Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A logged-in low-privilege WordPress user could become another site user, including an administrator, on sites running WP User Switch through version 1.0.2. This is a serious account takeover risk for affected sites, especially where public registration or many subscriber accounts exist.
Executive priority
Prioritize affected public or membership WordPress sites. A basic logged-in account could become an administrator, so remediation should be handled urgently where the plugin is present and untrusted users can register or log in.
Technical view
WP User Switch mishandled authentication checks in wpus_allow_user_to_admin_bar_menu by relying on the wpus_who_switch cookie value. The CVE describes authenticated subscriber-or-higher attackers impersonating any existing username. CVSS 3.1 is 8.8 high, mapped to CWE-288 authentication bypass.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress installations using the WP User Switch plugin at versions up to and including 1.0.2, with at least one attacker-controlled authenticated account. Sites allowing public subscriber registration have higher practical exposure.
Exploitation context
The provided bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. The vulnerability is network-reachable after login, low complexity, needs no user interaction, and can lead to full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact if an administrator account is impersonated.
Researcher notes
Primary evidence identifies the vulnerable function, cookie value, and WordPress Trac code references. Fixed-version details are not explicit in the supplied bundle, so validate vendor release notes or repository history before declaring closure.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for WP User Switch and identify versions through 1.0.2.
- Apply the vendor’s fixed release or guidance if available.
- Disable or remove WP User Switch where a fixed version is not confirmed.
- Restrict public registration and remove unnecessary subscriber accounts.
- Review administrator accounts and recent privilege-sensitive changes.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether WP User Switch is installed and record its version.
- Check whether untrusted users can authenticate as subscribers or higher.
- Review WordPress logs for unexpected administrator sessions or account changes.
- Verify the plugin code no longer trusts cookie-controlled switching without proper authorization.
- Check vendor advisories before treating remediation as complete.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-288: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2023-2546 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H2.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e89d912d-fa7a-4fb1-8872-95fa861c21ca?source=cveCVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-switch/trunk/inc/functions.php?rev=2237142#L33CVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/2921182/wp-user-switch/trunk/inc/functions.phpCVE reference
- https://lana.codes/lanavdb/0cfdc5fa-d219-46bb-b8cc-693ac28a9e92/CVE reference
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel
Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.