# CVE-2026-90966: Essential Real Estate WordPress plugin arbitrary paid package activation in AJAX

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-90966-the-essential-real-estate-wordpress-plugin-before-5-3-5-does-not  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-11-05. Updated: 2026-11-05  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-90966 · Severity: info · Published 2026-11-05

The Essential Real Estate WordPress plugin is used by real estate businesses to manage property listings and sales packages. A vulnerability in its free package activation feature allows authenticated users to activate paid packages without payment and create forged paid invoices, enabling fraud and revenue loss.

Technologies: [Essential Real Estate](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/essential-real-estate). Vendors: [Essential Real Estate](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/essential-real-estate).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-90966 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-90966 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-90966?** Informational severity, published 5 November 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Essential Real Estate before 5.3.5.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-90966?** Yes: fixed in 5.3.5. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-90966 attacked?** It is attacked over the network.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-90966?** Check whether you run Essential Real Estate at an affected version. 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.

## How to fix

- Fixed in 5.3.5

## Technical details

The ere_free_package_ajax AJAX action fails to verify that a selected listing package is genuinely free or that the requesting user is entitled to activate it, permitting a self-registered customer with basic account privileges (Customer+) to bypass access controls. An attacker can activate premium paid packages at no cost and cause the system to generate paid invoices at full price, exploiting broken authorization logic.

## Affected products

- Essential Real Estate Essential Real Estate before 5.3.5

## Timeline

- 2026-11-02: disclosed
- 2026-11-05: advisory

## References

- [https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/445a0351-d452-412e-8145-d427e10e0948/](https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/445a0351-d452-412e-8145-d427e10e0948/)

## Related threats

- [Essential Real Estate IDOR in invoice rendering](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-90967-the-essential-real-estate-wordpress-plugin-before-5-3-5-does-not)
- [Essential Real Estate WordPress plugin arbitrary email sending](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-90964-the-essential-real-estate-wordpress-plugin-before-5-3-5-does-not)
- [Essential Real Estate WordPress plugin authorization bypass in AJAX](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-90963-the-essential-real-estate-wordpress-plugin-before-5-3-5-does-not)
- [Essential Real Estate PHP Object Injection](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-32465-essential-real-estate-php-object-injection)