Vertex Addons for Elementor <= 1.6.4 — Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Arbitrary Plugin Installation and Activation via 'afeb_activate_required_plugins'

Am I affected?

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

What to do

1. Update to version 1.7.0, or a newer patched version
2. Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
3. Watch Vertex Addons for Elementor to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.

Advisory

Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to Athiwat Tiprasaharn (Jitlada).

The Vertex Addons for Elementor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in all versions up to and including 1.6.4. This is due to improper authorization enforcement in the activate_required_plugins() function. Specifically, the current_user_can('install_plugins') capability check does not terminate execution when it fails — it only sets an error message variable while allowing the plugin installation and activation code to execute. The error response is only sent after the installation and activation have already completed. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to install and activate arbitrary plugins from the WordPress.

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. Apr 8, 2026

   CVE published

   Severity high, CVSS 8.8

2. Nov 13, 2026

   Record last updated