8.8
HIGH CVSS 3.1
CVE-2026-86583
Import and export users and customers <= 2.4.17 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via CSV Escape-Character Mismatch in Export/Import Round Trip via display_name and nickname Profile Fields
Description

The Import and export users and customers plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.17 via the plugin's own export and re-import workflow. The vulnerability exists because the exporter writes CSV cells using fputcsv() with a NUL byte (\0) as the escape character, while the importer parses the same file using SplFileObject::fgetcsv() with only a single delimiter argument, causing PHP's default backslash escape character to be applied instead; because the export column layout places display_name immediately before the role column and nickname immediately after, an attacker can store crafted values in those two profile fields — saved by WordPress core via the standard profile page — such that the escape mismatch causes the parser to merge the display_name cell into the role field and rebalance the column count via nickname, yielding administrator as the parsed role for their own row when it reaches the import_user function's add_role function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access or above to escalate their privileges to Administrator. Exploitation requires a site administrator to trigger the plugin's documented export re-import migration with both "Update existing users" and "Update roles for existing users" set to "yes".

INFO

Published Date :

Sept. 23, 2026, 10:16 p.m.

Last Modified :

Sept. 23, 2026, 10:16 p.m.

Remotely Exploit :

Yes !
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-86583 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.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Codection import_and_export_users_and_customers
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 MITRE-CVE
CVSS 3.1 HIGH [email protected]
Solution
Update the Import and export users and customers plugin to the latest version to fix privilege escalation.
  • Update the plugin to a version that addresses the issue.
  • Review plugin settings for export/import workflow.
  • Restrict access to user import/export functionality.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-86583 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-2026-86583 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-2026-86583 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-86583 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]

    Sep. 23, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Description The Import and export users and customers plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.17 via the plugin's own export and re-import workflow. The vulnerability exists because the exporter writes CSV cells using fputcsv() with a NUL byte (\0) as the escape character, while the importer parses the same file using SplFileObject::fgetcsv() with only a single delimiter argument, causing PHP's default backslash escape character to be applied instead; because the export column layout places display_name immediately before the role column and nickname immediately after, an attacker can store crafted values in those two profile fields — saved by WordPress core via the standard profile page — such that the escape mismatch causes the parser to merge the display_name cell into the role field and rebalance the column count via nickname, yielding administrator as the parsed role for their own row when it reaches the import_user function's add_role function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access or above to escalate their privileges to Administrator. Exploitation requires a site administrator to trigger the plugin's documented export re-import migration with both "Update existing users" and "Update roles for existing users" set to "yes".
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    Added CWE CWE-266
    Added Affected New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/86xxx/CVE-2026-86583.json">CVE-2026-86583</a>
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/import-users-from-csv-with-meta/tags/2.4.17/classes/batch_exporter.php#L459
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/import-users-from-csv-with-meta/tags/2.4.17/classes/helper.php#L78
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/import-users-from-csv-with-meta/tags/2.4.17/classes/import.php#L1356
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/import-users-from-csv-with-meta/tags/2.4.17/classes/import.php#L872
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/import-users-from-csv-with-meta/tags/2.4.17/classes/import.php#L888
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3687349/import-users-from-csv-with-meta
    Added Reference https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/5b0f3444-4c10-45ce-a00b-4ed6038b8846?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.