CVE-2026-12165
Contest Gallery <= 30.0.2 - Authenticated (Author+) Privilege Escalation via 'RegistryUserRole' Parameter
Description
The Contest Gallery – Upload & Vote Photos, Media, Sell with PayPal & Stripe plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 30.0.2 via the `RegistryUserRole` parameter. This is due to the plugin's admin menu being registered at the `edit_posts` capability level — granting Contributor-level users access to the plugin's admin pages and a valid `cg_admin` nonce — while the option-saving handler in `change-options-and-sizes.php` performs no `current_user_can()` capability check beyond `check_admin_referer('cg_admin')`, and the `RegistryUserRole` value is processed only through `sanitize_text_field()` and `htmlentities()` without restriction to an allowlist of permitted role names. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with author-level access and above, to overwrite the plugin's stored `RegistryUserRole` option with `administrator`, which the `cg_create_wp_user_from_google_user` function then reads back from the `contest_gal1ery_registry_and_login_options` database table without any allowlist validation and passes directly to `wp_update_user()`, effectively promoting a newly registered Google sign-in account to Administrator.
INFO
Published Date :
June 17, 2026, 1:19 p.m.
Last Modified :
June 17, 2026, 2:44 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
[email protected]
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 | |||||
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | MITRE-CVE | ||||
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | [email protected] |
Solution
- Update the Contest Gallery plugin to the latest version.
- Verify that all administrative privileges are correctly configured.
- Remove any unauthorized administrative access.
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-2026-12165.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-12165 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-2026-12165
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-2026-12165 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-12165 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.
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New CVE Received by [email protected]
Jun. 17, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Affected [{'vendor': 'contest-gallery', 'product': 'Contest Gallery – Upload & Vote Photos, Media, Sell with PayPal & Stripe', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '0', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '30.0.2'}], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}] Added Description The Contest Gallery – Upload & Vote Photos, Media, Sell with PayPal & Stripe plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 30.0.2 via the `RegistryUserRole` parameter. This is due to the plugin's admin menu being registered at the `edit_posts` capability level — granting Contributor-level users access to the plugin's admin pages and a valid `cg_admin` nonce — while the option-saving handler in `change-options-and-sizes.php` performs no `current_user_can()` capability check beyond `check_admin_referer('cg_admin')`, and the `RegistryUserRole` value is processed only through `sanitize_text_field()` and `htmlentities()` without restriction to an allowlist of permitted role names. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with author-level access and above, to overwrite the plugin's stored `RegistryUserRole` option with `administrator`, which the `cg_create_wp_user_from_google_user` function then reads back from the `contest_gal1ery_registry_and_login_options` database table without any allowlist validation and passes directly to `wp_update_user()`, effectively promoting a newly registered Google sign-in account to Administrator. Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Added CWE CWE-269 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/contest-gallery/tags/30.0.2/functions/google/cg-create-wp-user-from-google-user.php#L169 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/contest-gallery/tags/30.0.2/index.php#L407 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/contest-gallery/tags/30.0.2/v10/v10-admin/options/change-options-and-sizes.php#L1242 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/contest-gallery/tags/30.0.2/v10/v10-admin/options/change-options-and-sizes.php#L16 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&old=3571733%40contest-gallery&new=3571733%40contest-gallery&sfp_email=&sfph_mail= Added Reference https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/69b909da-b1b0-4dab-916c-908511f6556f?source=cve -
CVE Modified by 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
Jun. 17, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added SSVC {'id': 'CVE-2026-12165', 'role': 'CISA Coordinator', 'options': [{'exploitation': 'none'}, {'automatable': 'no'}, {'technicalImpact': 'total'}], 'version': '2.0.3', 'timestamp': '2026-06-17T10:38:33.394545Z'}