CVE-2026-109400 — WordPress
HIGHCVE-2026-109400 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Improper Privilege Management vulnerability. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
The InstaWP Connect – 1-click WP Staging & Migration plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 0.1.4.1 This is due to the plugin…
Description
The InstaWP Connect – 1-click WP Staging & Migration plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 0.1.4.1 This is due to the plugin registering its admin page via add_management_page() using a role name returned by InstaWP_Setting::get_allowed_role() as the required capability — which WordPress resolves as a real capability match for any user holding that role — combined with generate_section_field() rendering the master API key from the instawp_api_options option directly as the value attribute of a plain-text HTML input with no additional manage_options or equivalent capability check. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above to read the plaintext master API key, use its SHA-256-derived secret as a bearer token accepted by the plugin's REST API validate_api_request(), and call POST /wp-json/instawp-connect/v2/auto-login to mint a 30-second single-use login URL that sets an administrator authentication cookie — fully escalating their privileges. Exploitation requires the site to be actively connected to InstaWP and an administrator to have added the attacker's role to the plugin's Sync Tab Access list (instawp_sync_tab_roles); notably, the settings tab suppression logic only hides the tab when administrator is absent from the list entirely, meaning a mixed configuration retaining administrator alongside a lower role still serves the full settings page — including the API key — to the lower-privileged user.
Detection & mitigation playbook
VulnerabilityDetect
Identify every host running the affected component and compare the installed build against the fixed version below — for source-built or distro-packaged software the version string, not a lockfile, is the source of truth (`dpkg -l`, `rpm -q`, or the binary's own `--version`).
Remediation status
No fixed release is recorded for CVE-2026-109400 yet. Track the upstream advisory, and apply the exposure-reduction steps below in the meantime.
Mitigate without a patch
Close the privilege gap rather than the entry point: audit which accounts, roles and service identities can reach the affected operation, drop the component to the least privilege it actually needs, and review file and directory permissions created by earlier installs — a default left in place is what makes this reachable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-109400 in your dependencies?
Find it across , including transitive dependencies.