CVE-2026-120538
Easy Digital Downloads <= 3.7.2 - Unauthenticated Authentication Bypass to Administrator Account Takeover via Guest Checkout Email Binding at PayPal Capture
Description
The Easy Digital Downloads plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass leading to administrator account takeover in all versions up to, and including, 3.7.2. During a PayPal guest checkout, the email address entered in the guest-checkout field is trusted as proof of identity: edd_get_purchase_form_user() binds the new guest order to an existing WordPress user purely on an email-address match, rewriting the order's user_id to that user's ID. The PayPal capture sink PurchaseUser::maybe_log_in_after_capture() then looked the user up by the order email (get_user_by( 'email', $order->email )) and, when $order->user_id equalled that user's ID (which the email-binding step guarantees), issued an authenticated session with wp_set_auth_cookie(). An unauthenticated attacker who starts a guest checkout using an administrator's email address (where that administrator has no existing EDD customer record) and completes the PayPal purchase flow therefore receives an authenticated session as that administrator — a full account takeover. The same sink is reachable through the standard PayPal checkout and the REST UnbrandedCard and Fastlane flows.
INFO
Published Date :
Nov. 3, 2026, 5:18 a.m.
Last Modified :
Nov. 3, 2026, 5:18 a.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
[email protected]
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-120538
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
No affected product recoded yet
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | [email protected] |
Solution
- Update the Easy Digital Downloads plugin to version 3.7.3.
- Apply vendor patches if available for older versions.
- Review user authentication mechanisms for trust.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-120538.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-120538 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-120538
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-120538 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-120538 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
New CVE Received by [email protected]
Nov. 03, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description The Easy Digital Downloads plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass leading to administrator account takeover in all versions up to, and including, 3.7.2. During a PayPal guest checkout, the email address entered in the guest-checkout field is trusted as proof of identity: edd_get_purchase_form_user() binds the new guest order to an existing WordPress user purely on an email-address match, rewriting the order's user_id to that user's ID. The PayPal capture sink PurchaseUser::maybe_log_in_after_capture() then looked the user up by the order email (get_user_by( 'email', $order->email )) and, when $order->user_id equalled that user's ID (which the email-binding step guarantees), issued an authenticated session with wp_set_auth_cookie(). An unauthenticated attacker who starts a guest checkout using an administrator's email address (where that administrator has no existing EDD customer record) and completes the PayPal purchase flow therefore receives an authenticated session as that administrator — a full account takeover. The same sink is reachable through the standard PayPal checkout and the REST UnbrandedCard and Fastlane flows. Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Added CWE CWE-287 Added Affected New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/120xxx/CVE-2026-120538.json">CVE-2026-120538</a> Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/includes/customers/customer-actions.php#L49 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/includes/gateways/paypal/checkout-actions.php#L681 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/includes/orders/functions/orders.php#L798 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/includes/user-functions.php#L428 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/src/Gateways/PayPal/V3/PurchaseUser.php#L174 Added Reference https://wordpress.org/plugins/easy-digital-downloads/ Added Reference https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f4250328-6d6c-4eb1-9ef2-334774c1d337?source=cve