CVE-2026-4880
Privilege Escalation in Barcode Scanner WordPress Plugin via Token Abuse
Publication date: 2026-04-16
Last updated on: 2026-04-16
Assigner: Wordfence
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
| Probability: | |
| Percentile: |
Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| wordfence | barcode_scanner | to 1.11.0 (inc) |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-269 | The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
The Barcode Scanner plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation due to insecure token-based authentication. The plugin trusts a user-supplied Base64-encoded user ID in the token parameter to identify users. Attackers can exploit this by spoofing an admin user ID to leak a valid authentication token through the 'barcodeScannerConfigs' action. Then, using this token, they can update any user's 'wp_capabilities' meta data via the 'setUserMeta' action, which lacks proper restrictions, thereby gaining full administrative access.
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to escalate their privileges to administrator level on a WordPress site using the Barcode Scanner plugin. This means attackers can gain full control over the site, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, deletion, or complete site takeover.
How does this vulnerability affect compliance with common standards and regulations (like GDPR, HIPAA)?:
The vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to escalate their privileges to administrator level by exploiting insecure token-based authentication. This can lead to unauthorized access and modification of sensitive data within the WordPress environment.
Such unauthorized access and privilege escalation can result in violations of common standards and regulations like GDPR and HIPAA, which require strict controls over access to personal and sensitive information to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Therefore, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to compliance by potentially exposing sensitive user data and administrative controls to attackers.