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CVE-2026-9018 is an unauthenticated privilege escalation vulnerability in the Easy Elements for Elementor – Addons & Website Templates plugin for WordPress affecting all versions up to and including 1.4.5. The flaw is in the plugin's registration workflow, specifically the easyel_handle_register() function exposed through the unauthenticated AJAX action wp_ajax_nopriv_eel_register. During account creation, the handler iterates over attacker-controlled custom_meta input and writes arbitrary key-value pairs into the newly created user's metadata via update_user_meta() without enforcing a whitelist or blocking sensitive keys. Because this metadata write occurs after wp_insert_user() assigns an initial safe role, an attacker can overwrite role-related metadata such as wp_capabilities and cause the newly registered account to be created with administrator privileges. The issue stems from improper authorization and unsafe handling of user-controlled metadata during registration.
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1 valid exploit after Mallory filtered fakes, detection scripts, and README-only repos.
This repository is a small standalone Python proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2026-9018, plus a README documenting the vulnerability and usage. The main file, `CVE-2026-9018.py`, uses the `requests` library and implements a complete exploitation workflow against vulnerable WordPress sites running Easy Elements for Elementor <= 1.4.5. First, it fetches a public page specified by `--nonce-page` (default `/`) and extracts the `easy_elements_nonce` value from HTML or embedded script content using regex. Second, it sends a POST request to `/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php` with `action=eel_register` and attacker-controlled registration fields, including `custom_meta[wp_capabilities][administrator]=1`, which attempts to create a new administrator account through the vulnerable unauthenticated registration handler. If exploitation appears successful, the script can optionally verify the result by logging into `/wp-login.php` and checking for access to `/wp-admin/`. The exploit is operational rather than a simple detector because it performs account creation and privilege escalation directly, with configurable username, email, password, nonce page, and SSL verification behavior. The README mirrors the code behavior, explains prerequisites such as enabled user registration and exposed widget nonce, and describes the root cause as unsafe handling of `custom_meta` values passed to WordPress user meta without a whitelist.
6 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
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Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
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Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
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