Unauthenticated Administrator creation via unchecked user metadata
Published May 22, 2026 · Updated May 22, 2026
Privilege escalation in ThemeWant Easy Elements for Elementor 1.4.5 and earlier allows remote attackers to create administrator accounts. The easyel_handle_register function passes every attacker-controlled custom_meta entry to update_user_meta, allowing wp_capabilities to replace the safe role assigned during registration. Exploitation requires enabled user registration and a public Login/Register widget that exposes its nonce; success grants a new account full site administration.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in ThemeWant Easy Elements for Elementor 1.4.5 and earlier allows remote attackers to create administrator accounts. The easyel_handle_register function passes every attacker-controlled custom_meta entry to update_user_meta, allowing wp_capabilities to replace the safe role assigned during registration. Exploitation requires enabled user registration and a public Login/Register widget that exposes its nonce; success grants a new account full site administration.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-9018
- Published
- May 22, 2026
- Updated
- May 22, 2026
- Vendor
- ThemeWant
- Product
- Easy Elements for Elementor – Addons & Website Templates
- Classifications
- CWE-269, T1190
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 22, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 22, 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 <=1.4.5
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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