CVE-2026-62061

Executive Summary

CVE-2026-62061 is an authorization bypass vulnerability in the Metagauss ProfileGrid WordPress plugin, affecting all versions up to and including 6.0.0.2. The flaw is classified as CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key), meaning an attacker can manipulate a user-controlled identifier to access resources or functionality that should be restricted to other users or roles. With a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.3, the primary impact is unauthorized read access to information (Confidentiality: Low), while there is no current evidence of public exploit code, Nuclei templates, or inclusion in CISA KEV.

Technical Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the ProfileGrid plugin's handling of user-controlled keys within its authorization logic. CWE-639 describes scenarios where an application uses a user-supplied value (such as a user ID, group ID, or object reference) to determine whether an action is permitted, without properly verifying that the requesting user is authorized to access the referenced object. In this case, the NVD description explicitly states the issue is "Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key" and that it "allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels." This indicates the plugin likely exposes functionality where a parameter controls which user profile, group, or community resource is loaded or acted upon, and the backend fails to validate the authenticated user's relationship to that resource.

The technical mechanism is an insecure direct object reference (IDOR) pattern: the application trusts a client-supplied identifier and returns or modifies data belonging to another user based solely on that identifier. Because the CVSS vector is AV:N (network exploitable), AC:L (low complexity), PR:N (no privileges required), and UI:N (no user interaction), an unauthenticated attacker can craft requests directly. The Confidentiality impact is Low (C:L), meaning the bypass primarily leaks limited information—such as restricted profile data, group membership details, or private content—rather than granting full administrative control. The Integrity and Availability impacts are None (I:N/A:N), so the flaw does not allow data modification or denial of service.

The affected component is the ProfileGrid plugin, a user profiles, groups, and communities extension for WordPress. The attack surface is any publicly reachable WordPress installation running the plugin at or below version 6.0.0.2. The plugin's front-end endpoints that process user or group identifiers are the likely attack vector, as they are accessible without authentication. No specific function names, parameter names, or file paths are available from the NVD description, so the exact request structure cannot be confirmed without further research. The root cause is insufficient authorization checks—the code likely relies on the presence of a valid key rather than verifying session ownership or role-based permissions.

Exploitation Scenarios

No public PoC or exploit code is available for CVE-2026-62061. The attack chain below is inferred strictly from the vulnerability class (CWE-639) and the CVSS metrics provided; no specific endpoints, parameters, or code patterns are fabricated.

1. Reconnaissance/target identification: An attacker scans for WordPress sites with the ProfileGrid plugin installed. This can be done via Shodan dorks such as http.html:"profilegrid" or by enumerating known plugin paths. The attacker identifies the plugin version through publicly accessible readme files, asset versions, or response fingerprints.

2. Triggering the flaw class: Because the vulnerability is an authorization bypass through a user-controlled key, the attacker identifies a request where a client-supplied identifier (e.g., a numeric or alphanumeric key representing a user, group, or community object) determines which resource is returned. The attacker then substitutes or enumerates this key value with one belonging to a different user or group. The lack of proper access control validation at the server side means the request succeeds even though the attacker is not authorized for that resource.

3. Payload/execution method: At the vulnerability-class level, the attack requires only a crafted HTTP request—no special payload, shellcode, or authentication is needed. The attacker manipulates the key parameter in a GET or POST request to the plugin's front-end endpoint. For example, if a request normally includes a key such as group_id or user_id, the attacker increments or changes that value to access another object. No user interaction is required (UI:N), and no prior authentication is needed (PR:N), lowering the barrier to exploitation.

4. Post-exploitation impact: Successful exploitation results in unauthorized read access to information (C:L). Depending on the key being manipulated, the attacker may retrieve private profile details, group membership lists, or restricted community content. The impact is scoped to confidentiality only; no data modification or service disruption is possible (I:N/A:N). The attacker could use the leaked information for further targeting, social engineering, or to map out privileged users within the WordPress site.

Impact Assessment

The business impact of CVE-2026-62061 is moderate but noteworthy for organizations using WordPress with the ProfileGrid plugin. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.3 (Medium), derived from:

• Attack Vector (AV:N): Exploitable remotely over the network.
• Attack Complexity (AC:L): No specialized conditions or race conditions required.
• Privileges Required (PR:N): The attacker needs no authentication.
• User Interaction (UI:N): No victim action is needed.
• Scope (S:U): The impact remains within the vulnerable component.
• Confidentiality (C:L): Limited information disclosure.
• Integrity (I:N): No data modification.
• Availability (A:N): No service disruption.

The blast radius includes any WordPress site running ProfileGrid <= 6.0.0.2 that exposes user profiles, groups, or communities. Because the plugin is designed for community and membership sites, the leaked data may include personally identifiable information (PII), private group discussions, or member directories. While the vulnerability does not allow full site takeover, the information disclosure can facilitate phishing, doxxing, or privilege escalation through secondary vectors. The lack of a patch (0/4 confidence) means all currently deployed instances remain vulnerable, and defenders cannot rely on an official fix.

Detection Guidance

Sigma Rule

title: ProfileGrid Authorization Bypass Attempt via User-Controlled Key
id: 8f4c2e1a-9b3d-4f6e-a7c8-1d2e3f4a5b6c
status: experimental
description: Detects HTTP requests to ProfileGrid plugin endpoints containing manipulated user/group identifiers that may indicate CWE-639 exploitation attempts.
author: Threat Intelligence
date: 2026-01-01
logsource:
  category: webserver
  product: apache
detection:
  selection_uri:
    cs-uri-stem|contains:
      - '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php'
      - '/profilegrid'
      - '/profile-grid'
  selection_params:
    cs-uri-query|contains:
      - 'user_id='
      - 'group_id='
      - 'profile_id='
      - 'community_id='
  selection_method:
    cs-method:
      - 'GET'
      - 'POST'
  condition: selection_uri and selection_params and selection_method
fields:
  - c-ip
  - cs-uri-stem
  - cs-uri-query
  - cs-method
  - cs-user-agent
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate user accessing own profile or group
  - Administrative actions by authorized users
level: medium
tags:
  - attack.t1190
  - cve.2026.62061
  - cwe.639

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2026_62061_ProfileGrid_AuthBypass
{
    meta:
        description = "Detects ProfileGrid plugin files associated with authorization bypass vulnerability CVE-2026-62061"
        author = "Threat Intelligence"
        date = "2026-01-01"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-62061"
        cve = "CVE-2026-62061"
        severity = "medium"

    strings:
        $plugin_name = "profilegrid-user-profiles-groups-and-communities" ascii wide nocase
        $version_string = /Version:\s*6\.0\.0\.2/ ascii wide
        $auth_key = "user_id" ascii wide
        $auth_key2 = "group_id" ascii wide
        $auth_key3 = "profile_id" ascii wide
        $wp_plugin = "wp-content/plugins" ascii wide nocase

    condition:
        $plugin_name and $wp_plugin and any of ($auth_key*) and #version_string > 0
}

Suricata IDS Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2026-62061 ProfileGrid Authorization Bypass Attempt"; flow:to_server,established; http.uri; content:"/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"; http.uri; content:"action="; http.uri; content:"profilegrid"; http.uri; content:"user_id="; http.uri; content:"group_id="; http.method; content:"GET"; pcre:"/(user_id|group_id|profile_id)=\d+/i"; reference:cve,2026-62061; reference:url,nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-62061; classtype:attempted-recon; sid:202662061; rev:1;)

Elastic Detection

sequence by source.ip with maxspan=5s
  [ network where network.protocol == "http" and
    url.path contains "/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" and
    url.query contains "profilegrid" ]
  [ network where network.protocol == "http" and
    url.query regex ".*(user_id|group_id|profile_id|community_id)=\\d+.*" ]

Splunk SPL Query

index=web sourcetype=access_combined
| search uri_path IN ("/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php", "/profilegrid/*", "/profile-grid/*")
| rex field=uri_query "(?<param_name>user_id|group_id|profile_id|community_id)=(?<param_value>\d+)"
| where isnotnull(param_name)
| stats count min(_time) as first_seen max(_time) as last_seen values(uri_query) as queries by src_ip, param_name, param_value
| where count > 5
| sort - count
| table first_seen, last_seen, src_ip, param_name, param_value, count, queries

Wazuh OSSEC Rule

<group name="web,wordpress,profilegrid,">
  <rule id="100620" level="7">
    <if_sid>31100</if_sid>
    <match>/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php</match>
    <regex>profilegrid</regex>
    <regex>(user_id|group_id|profile_id|community_id)=\d+</regex>
    <description>CVE-2026-62061: Possible ProfileGrid authorization bypass attempt via user-controlled key</description>
    <mitre>
      <id>T1190</id>
    </mitre>
    <group>cve_2026_62061,</group>
  </rule>
</group>

Mitigation & Patch Guidance

Patch confidence: 0/4 (UNPATCHED — no patch evidence from any tracked source).

1. Immediate mitigations:

   • Deactivate or remove the ProfileGrid plugin until a vendor patch is available, if the functionality is not business-critical.
   • If the plugin must remain active, implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests containing suspicious or out-of-range user/group identifiers from unauthenticated users.
   • Restrict access to plugin front-end endpoints to authenticated users only via server-level or WordPress-level access controls.
   • Monitor web server logs for enumeration patterns (e.g., sequential incrementing of user_id, group_id, or profile_id parameters) and alert on abnormal access to profile/group resources.

2. Patch/upgrade steps:

   • No official patch is currently available. Monitor the Metagauss ProfileGrid plugin page on wordpress.org and the vendor's official advisory channels for a security release. Once a patched version is released, upgrade immediately.
   • Subscribe to the WordPress Plugin Security mailing list and CVE feeds for CVE-2026-62061 updates.
   • If a patch becomes available, verify the fix by testing the specific authorization checks on the affected endpoints in a staging environment before deploying to production.

3. Long-term hardening:

   • Enforce the principle of least privilege for all WordPress plugins; audit third-party plugins for CWE-639 patterns regularly.
   • Implement server-side authorization checks that do not rely solely on client-supplied keys—validate that the authenticated user owns or has explicit rights to the referenced object.
   • Use indirect object references (e.g., mapping user-supplied tokens to server-side objects) instead of direct database identifiers.
   • Conduct periodic security reviews of community/membership plugins, especially those that expose user data or group management features.
   • Enable comprehensive logging and monitoring for all plugin endpoints, and integrate alerts into the SOC workflow.

References

• NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-62061
• CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key — https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/639.html
• WordPress Plugin Directory: ProfileGrid — https://wordpress.org/plugins/profilegrid-user-profiles-groups-and-communities/
• MITRE ATT&CK T1190: Exploit Public-Facing Application — https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1190/
• CISA KEV Catalog (not listed as of report date) — https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog