# CVE-2026-4261: Privilege escalation in Expire Users

> Authenticated subscribers can escalate privileges to administrator by manipulating user profile fields in the Expire Users WordPress plugin.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 21 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 8 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-w7pq-j4cx-8r97

## What is CVE-2026-4261?

CVE-2026-4261 is a high-severity vulnerability in husobj Expire Users, published on 21 Mar 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Expire Users plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 1.2.2. This is due to the plugin allowing a user to update the 'on_expire_default_to_role' meta through the 'save_extra_user_profile_fields' function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to elevate their privileges to that of an administrator.

Weakness: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-4261?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-4261?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-4261 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-4261 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-4261 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-4261 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-4261 is a high-severity vulnerability in husobj Expire Users, published on 21 Mar 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-4261 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: husobj Expire Users. 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-2026-4261/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-4261/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-4261
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-4261
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-4261

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-4261/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.