BuddyForms <= 2.10.5 — Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation to Form-Type Confusion via 'bf_post_type' Parameter

Am I affected?

• Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under BuddyForms.
• No admin access? Run a passive check of your site. It reads public files only.
• No account is needed to exploit this. Treat any exposed site on an affected version as at risk.

What to do

1. Update to version 2.10.6, or a newer patched version
2. Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
3. Watch BuddyForms to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.

Advisory

Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to Supakiad S. (m3ez).

The BuddyForms plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 2.10.5 via a form-type confusion attack through the `bf_post_type` parameter. This is due to the public frontend submission handler `buddyforms_form_response_no_ajax()` authorizing logged-out submissions based solely on the target form's `public_submit` flag while independently trusting the attacker-supplied `$_POST['bf_post_type']` to determine the post type of the newly created object — a cross-check introduced in 2.10.2 applies only to existing posts (`post_id != 0`) and is completely bypassed for new-object creation — combined with the `save_post` listener `buddyforms_edit_form_save_meta_box_data()` lacking both a `current_user_can()` capability check and a form-builder nonce, causing it to unconditionally persist attacker-supplied `$_POST['buddyforms_options']` for any newly inserted `buddyforms` CPT post. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to insert a rogue BuddyForms form configuration with an attacker-controlled `new_user_role` value into the live global form registry, then submit a registration through that form to create a new WordPress account with administrator-level privileges and achieve full site takeover. Exploitation requires the WordPress site to have "Anyone can register" enabled and at least one public BuddyForms form attached to a page, both of which are standard BuddyForms deployment configurations.

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. Nov 5, 2026

   CVE published

   Severity critical, CVSS 9.8

2. Nov 13, 2026

   Record last updated