# CVE-2026-12949: Wishlist Member account takeover via insufficient verification in registration

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-12949-wishlist-member-account-takeover-via-insufficient-verification-in  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-08-14. Updated: 2026-09-25  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-12949 · Severity: critical · CVSS 9.8 · Published 2026-08-14

Wishlist Member is a WordPress plugin used to manage membership sites with content protection and payment integration. A critical vulnerability in the registration function allows unauthenticated attackers to take over any WordPress account, including administrator accounts, by exploiting improper validation of user parameters. Attackers can hijack accounts without needing to know passwords, compromising all site data and enabling complete control of affected WordPress installations.

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-12949 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-12949 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-12949?** Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.8, published 14 August 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Wishlist Wishlist Member up to and including 3.34.1.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-12949?** No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

**How is CVE-2026-12949 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-12949?** Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

The vulnerability exists in the wpm_register() function, which validates the registration cookie against the GET reg parameter but fails to verify that the mergewith and wpm_id POST parameters reference a temporary or incomplete registrant tied to the current transaction. An unauthenticated attacker can supply an arbitrary user ID as the mergewith value, causing wp_update_user() to overwrite the target account's username, password, email, first name, and last name with attacker-controlled values. Password and email change notifications are explicitly suppressed. When wpm_id references a non-existent membership level, no role key is added to the update payload, preserving the target user's existing role—including administrator—resulting in direct privilege escalation. The vulnerability affects Wishlist Member versions up to and including 3.34.1.

## Affected products

- Wishlist Wishlist Member up to and including 3.34.1

## Timeline

- 2026-08-14: disclosed

## References

- [https://wishlistmember.com/](https://wishlistmember.com/)
- [https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/84afe5a7-1bf4-4b83-bf77-efbb003a30cd?source=cve](https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/84afe5a7-1bf4-4b83-bf77-efbb003a30cd?source=cve)