Security Hardener <= 2.4.4 — Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via REST API '/wp/v2/users' permission_callback Overwrite

Am I affected?

• Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under Security Hardener.
• No admin access? Run a passive check of your site. It reads public files only.

What to do

1. Update to version 2.4.5, or a newer patched version
2. Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
3. Watch Security Hardener to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.

Advisory

Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to zickzick2.

The Security Hardener plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.4. The vulnerability exists because the plugin's user-enumeration protection, which is enabled by default, hooks the rest_endpoints filter via secure_user_endpoints() and overwrites every registered handler's permission_callback on both the /wp/v2/users and /wp/v2/users/(?P<id>[\d]+) routes — including POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE handlers — with a bare closure that returns only is_user_logged_in(), completely stripping WordPress Core's original capability checks such as create_users, promote_user, edit_users, and delete_users that WP_REST_Users_Controller normally enforces. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above to create new Administrator accounts by sending POST request to /wp/v2/users with administrator role, or to reset an existing Administrator's password by issuing a PUT/POST request to /wp/v2/users/<id>. Because the block_user_enum option defaults to enabled, no special plugin configuration is required — the overwrite is active on every request as soon as the plugin is installed.

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. Aug 22, 2026

   CVE published

   Severity high, CVSS 8.8

2. Nov 13, 2026

   Record last updated