8.8
HIGH CVSS 3.1
CVE-2026-5130
Debugger & Troubleshooter <= 1.3.2 - Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation to Administrator via Cookie Manipulation
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.

INFO

Published Date :

March 30, 2026, 11:17 p.m.

Last Modified :

March 30, 2026, 11:17 p.m.

Remotely Exploit :

Yes !
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-5130 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
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 3.1 HIGH [email protected]
Solution
Update the Debugger & Troubleshooter plugin to version 1.4.0 or later to fix privilege escalation.
  • Update the Debugger & Troubleshooter plugin to version 1.4.0.
  • Ensure only administrators can initiate user simulation.
  • Validate simulation tokens against stored database mappings.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-5130 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-2026-5130 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-2026-5130 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-5130 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. 30, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added 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.
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    Added CWE CWE-565
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/debugger-troubleshooter/tags/1.3.2/debug-troubleshooter.php#L827
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/debugger-troubleshooter/tags/1.3.2/debug-troubleshooter.php#L849
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3486202/debugger-troubleshooter/trunk/debug-troubleshooter.php
    Added Reference https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/3e037931-870f-45eb-973c-0276911682ad?source=cve
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.