Unauthenticated administrator account creation via validation bypass
Published May 28, 2026 · Updated May 28, 2026
Privilege escalation in Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 0 through 0.9.2.5 allows remote attackers to create administrator accounts. The after_validate_save_post() function trusts the attacker-controlled _acf_post_id parameter to select a cleanup branch that discards validation errors lacking the acfe: prefix, including role restrictions. Exploitation requires a public ACFE frontend form with a Create User action that maps a role field; no prior account or user interaction is required.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 0 through 0.9.2.5 allows remote attackers to create administrator accounts. The after_validate_save_post() function trusts the attacker-controlled _acf_post_id parameter to select a cleanup branch that discards validation errors lacking the acfe: prefix, including role restrictions. Exploitation requires a public ACFE frontend form with a Create User action that maps a role field; no prior account or user interaction is required.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-8809
- Published
- May 28, 2026
- Updated
- May 28, 2026
- Vendor
- Konrad Chmielewski
- Product
- Advanced Custom Fields: Extended
- Classifications
- CWE-269, T1098
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 28, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 28, 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=0 <=0.9.2.5
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
- izxci CVE-2026-8809 Python proof of conceptproof of concept · unverified
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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