The Debugger & Troubleshooter plugin for WordPress was vulnerable to Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation in versions up to and including 1.3.2. This was due to the plugin accepting the wp_debug_troubleshoot_simulate_user cookie value directly as a user ID without any cryptographic validation or authorization checks. The cookie value was used to override the determine_current_user filter, which allowed unauthenticated attackers to impersonate any user by simply setting the cookie to their target user ID. This made it possible for unauthenticated attackers to gain administrator-level access and perform any privileged actions including creating new administrator accounts, modifying site content, installing plugins, or taking complete control of the WordPress site. The vulnerability was fixed in version 1.4.0 by implementing a cryptographic token-based validation system where only administrators can initiate user simulation, and the cookie contains a random 64-character token that must be validated against database-stored mappings rather than accepting arbitrary user IDs.
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History
Wed, 01 Apr 2026 02:15:00 +0000
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Jhimross
Jhimross debugger & Troubleshooter Wordpress Wordpress wordpress |
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Jhimross
Jhimross debugger & Troubleshooter Wordpress Wordpress wordpress |
Tue, 31 Mar 2026 14:15:00 +0000
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ssvc
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Tue, 31 Mar 2026 03:00:00 +0000
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| Description | The Debugger & Troubleshooter plugin for WordPress was vulnerable to Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation in versions up to and including 1.3.2. This was due to the plugin accepting the wp_debug_troubleshoot_simulate_user cookie value directly as a user ID without any cryptographic validation or authorization checks. The cookie value was used to override the determine_current_user filter, which allowed unauthenticated attackers to impersonate any user by simply setting the cookie to their target user ID. This made it possible for unauthenticated attackers to gain administrator-level access and perform any privileged actions including creating new administrator accounts, modifying site content, installing plugins, or taking complete control of the WordPress site. The vulnerability was fixed in version 1.4.0 by implementing a cryptographic token-based validation system where only administrators can initiate user simulation, and the cookie contains a random 64-character token that must be validated against database-stored mappings rather than accepting arbitrary user IDs. | |
| Title | Debugger & Troubleshooter <= 1.3.2 - Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation to Administrator via Cookie Manipulation | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-565 | |
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cvssV3_1
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Wordfence
Published:
Updated: 2026-03-31T13:35:42.702Z
Reserved: 2026-03-30T09:25:02.996Z
Link: CVE-2026-5130
Updated: 2026-03-31T13:35:38.221Z
Status : Received
Published: 2026-03-30T23:17:04.177
Modified: 2026-03-30T23:17:04.177
Link: CVE-2026-5130
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