HOMEVULNERABILITIESCVE-2020-36156
HIGH

CVE-2020-36156

CWE-269Published: January 4, 2021· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

8.8
CVSS v3.1

Official Description

An issue was discovered in the Ultimate Member plugin before 2.1.12 for WordPress, aka Authenticated Privilege Escalation via Profile Update. Any user with wp-admin access to the profile.php page could supply the parameter um-role with a value set to any role (e.g., Administrator) during a profile update, and effectively escalate their privileges.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2020-36156 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

Exploitation requires low privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 8.8.

CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown

Exploitability
Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges Req.Low
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
Impact
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected Vendors & Products

ultimatemember1 product(s)
ultimate member
Source: NVD CPE · 1 total CPE entries

Exploit & PoC Resources

NO KNOWN EXPLOITNo public exploit confirmed at this time
Exploit-DB
Offensive Security exploit database
GitHub PoC Search
Community PoC repositories
Rapid7 / Metasploit
Metasploit module search
PacketStorm
Security advisories & exploits
NVD Detail
Official NIST entry
MITRE CVE
CVE Program entry
External links open in a new tab. Always verify in a controlled environment before use.

Official Patches & Advisories

ADVISORYhttps://wordpress.org/plugins/ultimate-member/#developers
ADVISORYhttps://wpscan.com/vulnerability/dd4c4ece-7206-4788-8747-f0c0f3ab0a53
ADVISORYhttps://www.wordfence.com/blog/2020/11/critical-privilege-escalation-vulnerabilities-affect-100k-sites-using-ultimate-member-plugin/
ADVISORYhttps://wordpress.org/plugins/ultimate-member/#developers
ADVISORYhttps://wpscan.com/vulnerability/dd4c4ece-7206-4788-8747-f0c0f3ab0a53
ADVISORYhttps://www.wordfence.com/blog/2020/11/critical-privilege-escalation-vulnerabilities-affect-100k-sites-using-ultimate-member-plugin/

All References (6)

→
https://wordpress.org/plugins/ultimate-member/#developersRelease Notes · Third Party Advisory
→
https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/dd4c4ece-7206-4788-8747-f0c0f3ab0a53Exploit · Third Party Advisory
→
https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2020/11/critical-privilege-escalation-vulnerabilities-affect-100k-sites-using-ultimate-member-plugin/Exploit · Third Party Advisory
→
https://wordpress.org/plugins/ultimate-member/#developersRelease Notes · Third Party Advisory
→
https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/dd4c4ece-7206-4788-8747-f0c0f3ab0a53Exploit · Third Party Advisory
→
https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2020/11/critical-privilege-escalation-vulnerabilities-affect-100k-sites-using-ultimate-member-plugin/Exploit · Third Party Advisory

Quick Facts

CVE IDCVE-2020-36156
CVSS Score8.8 / 10
SeverityHIGH
WeaknessCWE-269
CISA KEVNo
Affected1 vendor(s)
PublishedJan 4, 2021

Related CVEs (CWE-269)

CVE-2022-24783
10.0
CVE-2020-27655
10.0
CVE-2025-0505
10.0
CVE-2024-6240
10.0
CVE-2018-4310
10.0
CVE-2021-1388
10.0

Recommended Actions

  • →Apply vendor patches immediately
  • →Monitor CVE-2020-36156 in threat intel feeds
  • →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts
Data sourced from NVD (NIST), CISA KEV, and EPSS (FIRST). Analysis generated by CTIWatch. CVE data is provided under the NVD usage policy.
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