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CVE-2026-85530 – Unauthenticated Account Takeover – GiveWP WordPress Plugin < 4.16.8.1

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Summary

CVE-2026-85530 is an unauthenticated account takeover vulnerability in the GiveWP WordPress donation plugin, caused by inconsistent normalization of donor email addresses. The flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker to be resolved as an arbitrary donor and to set the WordPress password of any user account linked to that donor record, including administrator accounts. The issue carries a High CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1.

Technical details

  • Root cause: GiveWP does not consistently normalize a donor’s email address between the value stored at donation time and the value used later during donor lookup operations.
  • This mismatch allows an attacker to submit a specially formatted email address that resolves to an existing donor record belonging to a different user, including a site administrator whose account is linked to a donor entry.
  • Trigger conditions: no authentication or prior privileges are required; the attacker interacts with the plugin’s public-facing donor/account functionality over the network.
  • Attack vector: Network (AV:N), with high attack complexity (AC:H), no privileges required (PR:N), and no user interaction (UI:N).
  • Impact: successful exploitation lets an unauthenticated attacker impersonate a donor and reset the WordPress account password tied to that donor’s email, leading to full account takeover — potentially of an administrator account — with high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
  • Weakness classification: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management).

Affected software

  • GiveWP WordPress plugin: all versions prior to 4.16.8.1 (confirmed affected releases include 4.16.6 and earlier, up to but not including the fixed version).

Severity

  • CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 8.1 (High)
  • Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate: Update the GiveWP plugin to version 4.16.8.1 or later, where the email normalization/lookup logic has been fixed.
  • If immediate patching is not possible: restrict or monitor access to donor account and password-reset related functionality exposed by GiveWP, and audit administrator accounts for any donor records linked to their email addresses.
  • After patching: force a password reset for any accounts (especially administrators) that may be linked to donor records, and review site logs for anomalous donor lookup or password-reset activity predating the patch.

References

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