Vulnerability details

The PilotPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation via Account Takeover in all versions up to, and including, 2.0.43. The vulnerability exists because the `update_cc_details()` AJAX handler forwards an attacker-supplied `username` parameter to ONTRAPORT via `api_call('update_cc_details', ...)` before performing the local `username_exists()` collision check, and aborts without rolling back the remote rename when a collision is detected — leaving the remote ONTRAPORT contact renamed to an existing WordPress Administrator's login. On a subsequent login attempt, `user_login()` (hooked to `wp_authenticate`) authenticates against ONTRAPORT using the renamed login and the attacker's own password, resolves the local WordPress user row via `get_user_by('login', $username)` — which now selects the real Administrator's row — and calls `wp_set_password()` against that Administrator's user ID; because the `user_level != 10` guard only suppresses PilotPress's own cookie issuance rather than returning a `WP_Error` to core, WordPress proceeds to validate the newly-synchronized password and issues a full Administrator authentication cookie to the attacker. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above — specifically any PilotPress member holding a valid ONTRAPORT contact and the Customer Center nonce — to fully take over an Administrator account.

• https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/ceee48dd-72a7-49c3-90d5-7af1a30f9ecb?source=cve
• https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/pilotpress/tags/2.0.39/pilotpress.php?rev=3642310#L2380
• https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/pilotpress/tags/2.0.39/pilotpress.php?rev=3642310#L1690
• https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/pilotpress/tags/2.0.39/pilotpress.php?rev=3642310#L1029
• https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/pilotpress/tags/2.0.39/pilotpress.php?rev=3642310#L1099
• https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3737004