# CVE-2026-89426: Knit Pay <= 9.6.1.0 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via Gravity Forms Role Field

> Authenticated subscribers can escalate to administrator by manipulating Gravity Forms role fields in the Knit Pay 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:** 25 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 25 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mhvq-rh33-27cf

## What is CVE-2026-89426?

CVE-2026-89426 is a high-severity vulnerability in knitpay Knit Pay – Cashfree, Instamojo, Razorpay, PayPal and more, published on 25 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Knit Pay – Cashfree, Instamojo, Razorpay, PayPal and more plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 9.6.1.0. This is due to the `maybe_update_user_role()` function reading the target role directly from an attacker-controlled Gravity Forms entry field — configured via the feed's `user_role_field_id` — and passing it to `WP_User::set_role()` without validating the supplied value against an allowlist of permitted roles. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to elevate their privileges to administrator by tampering with the hidden role field value at form submission time. Exploitation is further enabled by the fact that $0 orders are synchronously marked as SUCCESS during form submission without requiring a real payment, and when no GF User Registration user can be resolved, the role assignment target falls back to `$lead['created_by']` — the currently authenticated submitter's own user ID — making any authenticated form submitter an eligible exploitation target.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-89426?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-89426?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-89426 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-89426 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-89426 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-89426 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-89426 is a high-severity vulnerability in knitpay Knit Pay – Cashfree, Instamojo, Razorpay, PayPal and more, published on 25 Sep 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-2026-89426 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: knitpay Knit Pay – Cashfree, Instamojo, Razorpay, PayPal and more. 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-2026-89426/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-89426/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-89426
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-89426
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-89426

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-89426/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.