Pods <= 3.3.9 — Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation via Authorization Bypass to Admin Methods via 'pods_admin' AJAX Router
CVE-2026-19598Published · Updated Action summary
Affected: ≤3.3.9Update to 2.8.23.4 or 2.9.19.4 or 3.0.10.4 or 3.1.4.2 or 3.2.8.3 or 3.3.9.1 or newer
Fixed versions are per release branch: update to the fix for the branch you run.
All remediation steps- Severity
- Critical9.8
- CVSS
- 9.8CVSS 3.1 · CNA (Wordfence)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HWhat does this vector mean?
AV:NAttack vector- Network
AC:LAttack complexity- Low
PR:NPrivileges required- None
UI:NUser interaction- None
S:UScope- Unchanged
C:HConfidentiality- High
I:HIntegrity- High
A:HAvailability- High
- Weakness
- CWE-863 Incorrect Authorization
- Required access
- No account needed
- Exploit prediction (EPSS)
- No score
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
On this page8
Am I affected?
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields pods
- Affected≤ 3.3.9
- Patched in2.8.23.4 / 2.9.19.4 / 3.0.10.4 / 3.1.4.2 / 3.2.8.3 / 3.3.9.1
Update to 2.8.23.4 / 2.9.19.4 / 3.0.10.4 / 3.1.4.2 / 3.2.8.3 / 3.3.9.1 or newer.
You are affected if you run ≤ 3.3.9. Version 2.8.23.4, 2.9.19.4, 3.0.10.4, 3.1.4.2, 3.2.8.3, 3.3.9.1 and later are not affected by this issue.
- Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields.
- 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
- Update to one of the following versions, or a newer patched version: 2.8.23.4, 2.9.19.4, 3.0.10.4, 3.1.4.2, 3.2.8.3, 3.3.9.1
- Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
- Watch Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.
Advisory
Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to Nhien Pham (nhienit) (nhienit), thevietronin.
The Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation via Authorization Bypass in all versions up to, and including, 3.3.9. The vulnerability exists because the pods_admin AJAX router funnels every access check — including the method allowlist, nonce verification, login enforcement, and capability gate — through pods_error(), which under the JSON meta-box-loader compatibility path only writes failures to the PHP error log and returns false instead of terminating the request, rendering all guards ineffective. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to escalate their privileges to Administrator or overwrite the password of any user account, including the site owner's, enabling complete site takeover, or perform another administrator action.
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
More in Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields
All 20| Severity | Vulnerability | CVE | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium6.4 | Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'not_found' Shortcode Attribute ≤3.3.9.1Update to 3.3.9.2 | CVE-2026-76573 | |
| Medium6.5 | 3.3.9.1 - Authenticated (Author+) Arbitrary File Read 3.3 – 3.3.9.1Update to 3.3.9.2 | CVE-2026-74853 | |
| High8.8 | Authenticated (Author+) Remote Code Execution <3.3.9.1Update to 3.3.9.1 | CVE-2026-74851 | |
| High7.2 | Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting ≤3.3.8Update to 3.3.9 | CVE-2026-54191 | |
| Medium4.4 | Authenticated (Admin+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ≤3.2.8.1Update to 3.2.8.2 | CVE-2025-1446 |
- Medium6.4Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'not_found' Shortcode Attribute
≤3.3.9.1Update to 3.3.9.2
- Medium6.53.3.9.1 - Authenticated (Author+) Arbitrary File Read
3.3 – 3.3.9.1Update to 3.3.9.2
- High8.8Authenticated (Author+) Remote Code Execution
<3.3.9.1Update to 3.3.9.1
- High7.2Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting
≤3.3.8Update to 3.3.9
- Medium4.4Authenticated (Admin+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting
≤3.2.8.1Update to 3.2.8.2
Timeline
CVE published
Severity critical, CVSS 9.8
Record last updated
Sources & licenses
Wordfence record- Vulnerability data
- Wordfence Intelligence. [object Object] Licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0.
- CVE® identifiers
- [object Object]. Used under the CVE Program. CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.
- CVSS / CWE
- National Vulnerability Database (NVD), shown unmodified. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- VulnCrest content
- Summary, remediation guidance and page layout © VulnCrest. Not sourced from NVD.