# CVE-2026-9851: Booking Package <= 1.7.16 - Authenticated (Editor+) Privilege Escalation via Account Takeover to updateUser AJAX Action

> Authenticated editors can escalate privileges to administrator by changing any user's email and password via an insecure AJAX endpoint.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 6 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 6 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-9gp9-g392-77v9

## What is CVE-2026-9851?

CVE-2026-9851 is a high-severity vulnerability in masaakitanaka Booking Package, published on 6 Jun 2026. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Booking Package plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation via Account Takeover in versions up to, and including, 1.7.16. This is due to a missing capability check on the 'updateUser' branch of the package_app_action AJAX endpoint, where the handler only validates a nonce and the dispatcher invokes Schedule::updateUser() with the $administrator argument hard-coded to 1, bypassing the only owner-restriction check inside that function and allowing the target user to be determined solely by attacker-supplied input passed directly to wp_update_user(). This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Editor-level access and above, to change the email address and password of any account, including Administrator accounts, resulting in a full site takeover.

Weakness: CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-9851?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-9851?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-9851 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-9851 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-9851 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-9851 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-9851 is a high-severity vulnerability in masaakitanaka Booking Package, published on 6 Jun 2026. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-9851 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: masaakitanaka Booking Package. 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-2026-9851/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-9851/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-9851
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-9851
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-9851

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-9851/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.