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CVE Record

CVE-2026-12949: Wishlist Member X <= 3.34.1 - Unauthenticated Account Takeover via 'mergewith' Parameter

The Wishlist Member plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Account Takeover via Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity in versions up to and including 3.34.1. This is due to the wpm_register() function validating the registration cookie only against the GET reg parameter while accepting the POST mergewith and POST wpm_id parameters without verifying that the mergewith user ID references a temporary or incomplete registrant that is bound to the current registration transaction. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to take over any existing WordPress account — including administrator accounts — by supplying an arbitrary user's numeric ID as the mergewith value, which causes wp_update_user() to overwrite the target account's username (additionally written via a direct $wpdb UPDATE), password, email address, first name, and last name with attacker-controlled values, while WordPress password and email change notification emails are explicitly suppressed. When wpm_id references a non-existent membership level, no role key is added to the update payload, causing wp_update_user() to preserve the target user's existing role — including administrator — making full privilege escalation a direct consequence of the takeover.

CriticalCVSS 9.8Not KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysiscritical

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

A remote, unauthenticated attacker could take control of any WordPress account on a site using an affected Wishlist Member version, including an administrator account. The flaw allows credentials and profile details to be replaced without sending normal password or email change notifications, increasing the risk of unnoticed full-site compromise.

Executive priority

Treat this as an immediate remediation and compromise-assessment priority. A vulnerable public site may permit silent administrator takeover with no credentials or victim action. Prioritize internet-facing sites, preserve relevant logs, and involve incident response where unexplained privileged-account changes are found.

Technical view

The wpm_register() function checks the registration cookie against GET reg but does not bind POST mergewith and wpm_id to that transaction. An attacker can target an arbitrary user ID, causing credentials and profile attributes to be overwritten. Using a nonexistent membership level omits the role update, preserving an administrator role.

Likely exposure

WordPress sites running Wishlist Member through version 3.34.1 are potentially exposed. Risk is greatest where the affected registration functionality is publicly reachable. Successful targeting of an existing administrator could provide full administrative control. The bundle's structured version field conflicts with its title and description, so installed-version findings require vendor confirmation.

Exploitation context

The attack requires no authentication, privileges, or user interaction and is described as low complexity. The supplied bundle does not identify public exploitation and marks KEV as false. That is not proof that exploitation has never occurred, particularly because account-change notifications are suppressed.

Researcher notes

The described root cause is insufficient transaction binding around mergewith and wpm_id, followed by dangerous account mutation and suppressed notifications. The structured affected entry lists version "0," conflicting with the title and narrative cutoff of 3.34.1. No specific fixed release or confirmed exploitation is provided, so verify both with current vendor guidance.

Mitigation direction

  • Inventory WordPress sites and prioritize those running Wishlist Member through version 3.34.1.
  • Review Wishlist Member guidance and apply its confirmed security update or mitigation when available.
  • Restrict access to affected registration functionality until vendor-confirmed remediation is applied.
  • If compromise is suspected, secure privileged accounts and restore validated identity and credential data.

Validation and detection

  • Verify the exact Wishlist Member version installed on every WordPress site.
  • Determine whether the affected registration workflow is reachable without authentication.
  • Review accounts for unexpected username, email, password, first-name, or last-name changes.
  • Inspect registration and application logs for suspicious mergewith or wpm_id activity.
  • Confirm remediation status against current Wishlist Member or Wordfence guidance.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
4

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

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 · low confidence lookup

CWE-640: 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.

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description · low confidence lookup

Credential 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 lookup
description · low confidence lookup

Privilege behavior lookup

The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2026-12949 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Official CVE source material

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.

1CVSS vectors
5Timeline events
1ADP providers
3Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: yesTechnical Impact: total

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We 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.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
9.8CVSS 3.1CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H3.95.9Wordfence

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

9.8Critical
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2026-12949Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. Source timelineWordfence

    Vendor Notified

  3. Source timelineWordfence

    Disclosed

  4. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  5. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
Wishlist MemberWishlist Member0unaffected
Weakness

CWE details

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-640 · source CWE mapping

Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password

Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.