# CVE-2022-42888: WordPress ARMember Plugin <= 5.5.1 is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation

> Unauthenticated attackers can escalate privileges in the ARMember WordPress plugin, allowing unauthorized access to higher-level user roles.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 6 Dec 2022
- **Updated:** 28 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7gxx-q4r2-6xhg

## What is CVE-2022-42888?

CVE-2022-42888 is a critical vulnerability in Reputeinfosystems ARMember, published on 6 Dec 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Unauth. Privilege Escalation vulnerability in ARMember premium plugin <= 5.5.1 on WordPress.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-42888?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Armemberplugin Armember.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-42888?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-42888 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-42888 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-42888 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Reputeinfosystems ARMember

- [CVE-2022-1903](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-1903/): ARMember < 3.4.8 - Unauthenticated Admin Account Takeover (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2023-3011](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-3011/): ARMember <= 4.0.5 - Cross-Site Request Forgery (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2022-47421](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-47421/): WordPress ARMember (free) and ARMember (premium) plugins - vulnerable to Auth. Stored Cross Site Scripting (XSS) (medium 5.9)
- [CVE-2023-3996](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-3996/): ARMember Lite - Membership Plugin <= 4.0.16 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting (medium 4.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-42888 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-42888 is a critical vulnerability in Reputeinfosystems ARMember, published on 6 Dec 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-42888 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Reputeinfosystems ARMember. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-42888/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-42888/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-42888
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-42888
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-42888

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-42888/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.