The Account Switcher plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions...

Description

The Account Switcher plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.2. This is due to the rememberLogin REST API endpoint using a loose comparison (!= instead of !==) for secret validation at app/RestAPI.php:111, combined with no validation that the secret is non-empty. When a target user has never used the "Remember me" feature, their asSecret user meta does not exist, causing get_user_meta() to return an empty string. An attacker can send an empty secret parameter, which passes the comparison ('' != '' is false), and the endpoint then calls wp_set_auth_cookie() for the target user. Additionally, all REST routes use permission_callback => '__return_true' with no capability checks. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to switch to any user account including Administrator, ultimately granting themselves full administrative privileges.

Basic information

Type
unreviewed
Severity
high
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Source code
Not specified
Published (advisory)
2026-05-20 03:31:34 UTC
Updated
2026-05-20 03:31:46 UTC
NVD published
2026-05-19

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.04% 12.06%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
8.8 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-287 Improper Authentication

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence