CVE-2026-17553 Privilege escalation in Shopping Cart & eCommerce Store
Authenticated Store Managers can escalate privileges to administrator by manipulating AJAX options, allowing full site control.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-17553?
CVE-2026-17553 is a high-severity vulnerability in levelfourstorefront Shopping Cart & eCommerce Store, published on 9 Sep 2026. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Official description
The WP EasyCart plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in versions up to, and including, 5.9.3. This is due to the ec_ajax_save_page_default_options() AJAX handler iterating over every $_POST key and passing it directly into update_option() without any allowlist, while gating the handler only on 'manage_options' OR the plugin's custom 'wpec_manager' capability. The plugin's built-in 'wpec_store_manager' role holds 'wpec_manager' but not 'manage_options', and the required nonce is emitted on frontend product/category templates that render for any user with 'wpec_manager'. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Store Manager-level access and above, to elevate their privileges to administrator by updating arbitrary WordPress options such as default_role='administrator' and users_can_register='1', then self-registering a new account that is assigned the administrator role.
Weakness: CWE-269
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-17553?
How do I fix CVE-2026-17553?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-17553 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2026-17553 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-17553 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-p65j-77g8-24jh.