Unauthorized post author changes via unchecked AJAX handlers
Published Mar 25, 2026 · Updated Mar 25, 2026
Missing authorization in PublishPress Authors 4.10.1 and earlier allows remote attackers to change authors assigned to WordPress posts. The Post_Editor AJAX handlers pass attacker-supplied post and author IDs to Utils::set_post_authors without checking edit_post for the target post. Unauthenticated access to the WordPress AJAX endpoint is sufficient to add or remove post authors, altering stored authorship and content attribution.
Summary
What happened
Missing authorization in PublishPress Authors 4.10.1 and earlier allows remote attackers to change authors assigned to WordPress posts. The Post_Editor AJAX handlers pass attacker-supplied post and author IDs to Utils::set_post_authors without checking edit_post for the target post. Unauthenticated access to the WordPress AJAX endpoint is sufficient to add or remove post authors, altering stored authorship and content attribution.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-25309
- Published
- Mar 25, 2026
- Updated
- Mar 25, 2026
- Vendor
- PublishPress
- Product
- PublishPress Authors
- Classifications
- CWE-862, T1565.001
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 25, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 25, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=n/a <=<= 4.10.1 changes=[{"at":"4.11.0","status":"unaffected"}]
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
- Atomic Edge CVE-2026-25309 proof of conceptproof of concept · unverified
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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