CVE-2026-4021
Contest Gallery <= 28.1.5 - Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation Admin Account Takeover via Registration Confirmation Email-to-ID Type Confusion
Description
The Contest Gallery plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to an authentication bypass leading to admin account takeover in all versions up to, and including, 28.1.5. This is due to the email confirmation handler in `users-registry-check-after-email-or-pin-confirmation.php` using the user's email string in a `WHERE ID = %s` clause instead of the numeric user ID, combined with an unauthenticated key-based login endpoint in `ajax-functions-frontend.php`. When the non-default `RegMailOptional=1` setting is enabled, an attacker can register with a crafted email starting with the target user ID (e.g., `[email protected]`), trigger the confirmation flow to overwrite the admin's `user_activation_key` via MySQL integer coercion, and then use the `post_cg1l_login_user_by_key` AJAX action to authenticate as the admin without any credentials. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to take over any WordPress administrator account and gain full site control.
INFO
Published Date :
March 24, 2026, 12:16 a.m.
Last Modified :
March 24, 2026, 12:16 a.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
[email protected]
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-4021
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 Contest Gallery plugin to the latest version.
- Verify the fix by testing the authentication flow.
- Disable email confirmation if not strictly required.
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-2026-4021.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-4021 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-2026-4021
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-2026-4021 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-4021 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]
Mar. 24, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description The Contest Gallery plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to an authentication bypass leading to admin account takeover in all versions up to, and including, 28.1.5. This is due to the email confirmation handler in `users-registry-check-after-email-or-pin-confirmation.php` using the user's email string in a `WHERE ID = %s` clause instead of the numeric user ID, combined with an unauthenticated key-based login endpoint in `ajax-functions-frontend.php`. When the non-default `RegMailOptional=1` setting is enabled, an attacker can register with a crafted email starting with the target user ID (e.g., `[email protected]`), trigger the confirmation flow to overwrite the admin's `user_activation_key` via MySQL integer coercion, and then use the `post_cg1l_login_user_by_key` AJAX action to authenticate as the admin without any credentials. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to take over any WordPress administrator account and gain full site control. 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 Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/contest-gallery/tags/28.1.4/ajax/ajax-functions-frontend.php#L204 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/contest-gallery/tags/28.1.4/v10/v10-admin/users/frontend/registry/users-registry-check-after-email-or-pin-confirmation.php#L153 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/contest-gallery/trunk/ajax/ajax-functions-frontend.php#L204 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/contest-gallery/trunk/v10/v10-admin/users/frontend/registry/users-registry-check-after-email-or-pin-confirmation.php#L153 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?old_path=/contest-gallery/tags/28.1.5&new_path=/contest-gallery/tags/28.1.6 Added Reference https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f1b9725b-dee5-44ca-bb33-c6812fb76adc?source=cve