Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors <= 4.7.1 — Insecure Direct Object Reference to Authenticated (Author+) Arbitrary User Email Update and Account Takeover

Am I affected?

• Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors.
• No admin access? Run a passive check of your site. It reads public files only.

What to do

1. Update to version 4.7.2, or a newer patched version
2. Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
3. Watch Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.

Advisory

Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to wesley (wcraft).

The Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference to Privilege Escalation/Account Takeover in all versions up to, and including, 4.7.1 via the action_edited_author() due to missing validation on the 'authors-user_id' user controlled key. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Author-level access and above, to update arbitrary user accounts email addresses, including administrators, which can then be leveraged to reset that user's account password and gain access.

Exploits & references

Proof-of-concept & detection

No public proof-of-concept or detection template is known for this vulnerability.

Advisories & patches

• Advisorywordfence.com

Related CVEs

Timeline

1. Oct 16, 2024

   CVE published

   Severity high, CVSS 8.8

2. Nov 13, 2026

   Record last updated