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YITH WooCommerce Waitlist Premium - Privilege Escalation (CVE-2026-14359)

CVE-2026-14359

The YITH WooCommerce Waitlist Premium plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in versions up to, and including, 3.35.0. This is due to the add_user_in_waiting_list() function registered on the wp_ajax_yith_wcwtl_add_user action being missing both a capability check and a nonce verification, and using parse_str() + extract() to import attacker-controlled variables from $_POST['params'] that are then passed to wp_create_user() and $user->set_role(). This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to elevate their privileges to that of an administrator by creating a new user account and assigning it the administrator role.

CVE-2026-14359

HIGH CVSS 8.8 Published 2026-09-09 Updated 2026-09-09
AI Risk High (86/100) Active Exploit: No strong signal Published Exploit: No public exploit references Priority: P2 Urgent
Severity Band HIGH
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected Components 1
Reference Links 2
AI Risk Engine High (86/100)
Exploitability High
Active Exploitation No strong signal
Published Exploit Status No public exploit references

Threat Timeline

  1. 2026-09-09 CVE published and first recorded in the threat feed.
  2. 2026-09-09 Record updated with latest vulnerability metadata.
  3. 2026-09-09 AI technical context refreshed for mitigation and impact guidance.
  4. Now Monitoring for follow-up changes, linked references, and new related CVEs.

AI Context

Machine-generated threat intelligence

AI Updated 31 days ago

AI enriched 31 days ago (2026-09-09 20:24 UTC)

Technical Summary

The YITH WooCommerce Waitlist Premium plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in versions up to, and including, 3.35.0. This is due to the add_user_in_waiting_list() function registered on the wp_ajax_yith_wcwtl_add_user action being missing both a capability check and a nonce verification, and using parse_str() + extract() to import attacker-controlled variables from $_POST['params'] that are then passed to wp_create_user() and $user->set_role(). This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to elevate their privileges to that of…

Potential Impact

Severity is HIGH (CVSS 8.8). Depending on deployment context, affected components may be exposed to unauthorized actions or data integrity risk.

Exploitability Assessment

Exploitability is assessed as High based on remote code execution potential.

Primary risk drivers: remote code execution potential

Mitigation Recommendations

Validate affected product versions, prioritize patching, and monitor references for vendor remediation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, apply compensating controls and limit exposure of vulnerable surfaces.

Detection & Monitoring

Track authentication anomalies, unexpected file writes, and suspicious plugin API activity around affected components.

Business Impact Lens

AI risk score 86/100 (High, High) with priority P2 Urgent. Prioritize remediation where affected components process customer data, admin sessions, or Internet-exposed workflows.

References

What to do about this

Patch promptly The consequence is significant even where an attacker needs a foothold first.

Fix it

Update YITH WooCommerce Waitlist Premium to the latest available version.

Where the vendor has not published a fix yet, disable the plugin until they do.

Cannot update today? Unauthorised administrator detection in Hack Halt ProSecure blocks this class of attack before WordPress processes the request.

Alert when a new administrator appears or a role is escalated. Creating a hidden admin is the most common persistence step after a WordPress compromise.

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Not sure if you are affected?

Scan your site to see whether it runs YITH WooCommerce Waitlist Premium, and at which version.

Free, no installation, no account. It reads what your site already publishes, then tells you which plugins carry known vulnerabilities and what to do about each one.

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Am I affected by this vulnerability?

You are affected if your site runs YITH WooCommerce Waitlist Premium.

How do I fix it?

Update YITH WooCommerce Waitlist Premium to the latest available version. Where the vendor has not yet published a fix, remove or disable the plugin until they do. Until you can update, Unauthorised administrator detection in Hack Halt ProSecure contains this class of attack at the request layer.

What can an attacker actually do?

This is a Privilege Escalation flaw. An attacker who exploits it can raise a low-privilege account, or none at all, to administrator.