CVE-2026-86583 Privilege escalation in Import and export users and customers
Authenticated subscribers can escalate to Administrator via CSV escape mismatch in export/import workflow if admin triggers specific migration settings.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-86583?
CVE-2026-86583 is a high-severity vulnerability in carazo Import and export users and customers, published on 23 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
The Import and export users and customers plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.17 via the plugin's own export and re-import workflow. The vulnerability exists because the exporter writes CSV cells using fputcsv() with a NUL byte (\0) as the escape character, while the importer parses the same file using SplFileObject::fgetcsv() with only a single delimiter argument, causing PHP's default backslash escape character to be applied instead; because the export column layout places display_name immediately before the role column and nickname immediately after, an attacker can store crafted values in those two profile fields — saved by WordPress core via the standard profile page — such that the escape mismatch causes the parser to merge the display_name cell into the role field and rebalance the column count via nickname, yielding administrator as the parsed role for their own row when it reaches the import_user function's add_role function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access or above to escalate their privileges to Administrator. Exploitation requires a site administrator to trigger the plugin's documented export re-import migration with both "Update existing users" and "Update roles for existing users" set to "yes".
Weakness: CWE-266
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-86583?
How do I fix CVE-2026-86583?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-86583 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2026-86583 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-86583 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-42cf-ph32-46f5.