Description

Subscriber Broken Access Control in AnsPress – Question and answer 4.4.4 versions.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.1",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-06T15:17:17.677Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-06T15:17:17.677Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A broken access control vulnerability exists in the AnsPress – Question and answer plugin affecting version 4.4.4. This security flaw allows authenticated users with low-privileged subscriber roles to perform unauthorized actions restricted to higher-privileged users. The vulnerability impacts the integrity and confidentiality of the affected WordPress application by potentially enabling unauthorized modifications or data access. An attacker possessing standard subscriber credentials can exploit this vulnerability without complex prerequisites, bypassing intended authorization checks enforced by the application logic. The risk implication is significant as it permits privilege escalation boundaries to be bypassed within the question and answer system, threatening overall platform security.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability stems from insufficient authorization checks within the access control enforcement mechanisms of the AnsPress – Question and answer 4.4.4 versions. Specifically, the vulnerable component fails to adequately validate whether the requesting user possesses the necessary administrative or operational capabilities before executing sensitive functional routines.\nDuring the attack flow, an authenticated attacker with subscriber-level privileges interacts with application endpoints or functions designated for management or restricted interactions. Because the underlying codebase lacks robust capability checks or role verifications associated with the requested actions, the server processes the input and executes the privileged functionality on behalf of the low-privileged user.\nExploitation requires active authentication on the target WordPress instance with a subscriber account, establishing a baseline of network exposure inherent to standard application usage. The lack of strict server-side validation allows the payload or request parameters to successfully invoke backend logic that should otherwise yield an unauthorized or forbidden response.\nThe post-exploitation impact includes the potential manipulation of restricted data, unauthorized administrative overrides, or execution of privileged routines within the AnsPress ecosystem. This compromises the role-based access control paradigm established by the core application and the plugin architecture."
}