WordPress security changelog
MEDIUM CVE-2026-13167 Deferred

Everest Forms delegated access permits unauthorized plugin activation

Everest Forms through 3.5.2 exposes an activation operation to users with delegated Everest Forms management capabilities without also requiring WordPress's activate_plugins capability. A user who can reach the affected Everest Forms administration page can obtain its nonce and activate any plugin that is already installed.

CVE / CNA score 4.3 CVSS 3.1 · security@wordfence.com
NVD score Pending NVD has not published its own CVSS assessment.
Component
Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI
Plugin slug
everest-forms
Affected
<= 3.5.2
Safe version
See mitigation notes
Published
Aug 16, 2026
Weakness
CWE-862 — Missing Authorization

This CVE was published Aug 16, 2026 and is one of 24 known issues for this plugin.

What to do

Update, patch or deactivate.

No fixed release is identified in the authoritative record. Update when a confirmed patch is available; until then, keep Everest Forms management capabilities administrator-only, review installed-but-inactive plugins, and audit recent plugin activations. The official upstream changelog lists version 3.6.0, which is newer than the published affected range. Its changelog does not clearly confirm this specific fix, so it is not counted as a known-safe release.

No confirmed safe version is listed. Consider a vendor-supported patch or temporarily restricting the affected functionality while you assess the risk.

Deactivate only when warranted by your risk profile, or when advised by your hosting provider in the limited circumstances where the vulnerability cannot otherwise be mitigated. If you’re unsure which action is appropriate, contact Fused or your hosting provider for guidance.

Source record

Technical description

The Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass in all versions up to, and including, 3.5.2. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with delegated form management access and above, to activate arbitrary already-installed WordPress plugins — including previously deactivated or vulnerable plugins — without holding the core activate_plugins capability. Exploitation requires the target user to hold a delegated Everest Forms capability (manage_everest_forms, everest_forms_create_forms, or everest_forms_view_forms), which the plugin's own roles and permissions tool allows administrators to assign to non-administrator roles such as Author; the nonces required to exploit the AJAX handlers are emitted on EVF admin pages accessible to any such delegated user.

CVE / CNA vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

References

Primary and upstream sources