CVE-2026-4297: Welcome Software Publishing (WordPress plugin) · Missing Authorization
Affects Welcome Software Publishing (WordPress plugin)Source CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.8 High.
Data as of 5 Nov 2026, 00:01 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 52% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 24 Jun 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 5 Nov 2026.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| newscredWelcome Software Publishing | Affected
| Fixed in– |
AI-suggested
Until an official fix is available, restrict or disable XML-RPC access if possible to mitigate exploitation risk. Monitor for suspicious account creation or option changes. Avoid granting unnecessary authenticated access to untrusted users.
Description
The Welcome Software Publishing plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary Options Update in all versions up to and including 0.0.31. This is due to a missing capability check in the nc_setOption() function, which is exposed via the nc.setOption XML-RPC method. The function authenticates the user via $wp_xmlrpc_server->login() (verifying credentials are valid) but does not perform any authorization check such as current_user_can('manage_options'). This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to update arbitrary WordPress options via XML-RPC requests. This can be leveraged to change the default_role option to 'administrator' and then register a new administrator account, achieving full privilege escalation and site takeover.
References
- wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/47e53fd3-4e3f-433a-8e70-3a58c864184a?source=cve (opens in a new tab)
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/trunk/newscred.php (opens in a new tab)
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/tags/0.0.31/newscred.php (opens in a new tab)
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/trunk/newscred.php (opens in a new tab)
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/tags/0.0.31/newscred.php (opens in a new tab)
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/trunk/newscred.php (opens in a new tab)
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/tags/0.0.31/newscred.php (opens in a new tab)
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/trunk/newscred.php (opens in a new tab)
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/newscred-publishing/tags/0.0.31/newscred.php (opens in a new tab)