Redux Framework Privilege Escalation via User Meta Manipulation

The Redux Framework WordPress plugin before 4.5.13 does not restrict which user meta keys can be written when saving custom profile fields, allowing users with at least the Subscriber role to escalate their privileges to Administrator by submitting a crafted value while updating their own profile, on sites where the Redux Framework WordPress plugin before 4.5.13's user-profile (Users extension) feature is enabled.

Casky was already ahead

This CVE exploits attack patterns that Casky's 224matched skills already investigate — long before this vulnerability was disclosed. Claude's reasoning model maps these techniques to MITRE ATT&CK, so practitioners who ran these skills have already seen the threat behaviour in their findings.

Analysis

The Redux Framework WordPress plugin before version 4.5.13 contains a critical privilege escalation vulnerability that allows low-privileged users (Subscriber role or higher) to become Administrators. The flaw stems from insufficient input validation on user meta keys during profile field updates—specifically, the plugin fails to restrict which user metadata can be written, enabling attackers to directly manipulate capability meta keys that control WordPress role assignments. This vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it requires only basic user account access and can be exploited through a standard profile update mechanism, making it accessible to threat actors with minimal privileges. Any WordPress site using the Redux Framework's Users extension feature with user-profile customization enabled is at risk of complete administrative compromise.

Casky's 224 mapped skills detect the attack patterns associated with this vulnerability primarily through MITRE ATT&CK Technique TA0004 (Privilege Escalation) and related CWE-269 (Improper Access Control) indicators. Practitioners leveraging Casky's Claude-powered analysis would identify suspicious activity such as: low-privilege user accounts making direct modifications to user meta keys (especially wp_capabilities or similar role-defining metadata), unusual profile update requests containing serialized PHP objects or capability assignments, and sudden role elevation events where user accounts jump from Subscriber to Administrator without explicit admin action. The extended reasoning capabilities would correlate these signals across multiple detection points—spotting the characteristic pattern of profile submission requests that include unauthorized meta key modifications—allowing security teams to catch exploitation attempts before privilege escalation completes.

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Casky Risk Score

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EPSS Probability

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Shodan Exposure

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GreyNoise Signal

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Composite risk scoring from EPSS, CISA KEV, Shodan, and GreyNoise — 21 security APIs correlated into a single Casky Risk Score. Coming in Casky Pro. Join early access →

224 Casky skills cover this attack pattern

These skills use Claude AI's reasoning model to surface findings in the same attack categories as CVE-2026-12525.

abusing-dpapi-for-credential-access

red teaming · high

Run

abusing-shadow-credentials-for-privesc

red teaming · high

Run

Access with Stolen Session Cookie

penetration testing · medium

Run

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques

TA0004

Investigate the attack patterns behind CVE-2026-12525

Casky has 224 skills that investigate the attack patterns behind CVE-2026-12525. Run one and get CVSS-scored findings in 3 minutes.

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