WordPress · Pods · CVE-2026-19598
**Name of the Vulnerable Software and Affected Versions**
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields versions prior to 3.3.9.1
**Description**
The Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields plugin for WordPress contains a privilege escalation flaw allowing unauthenticated attackers to gain Administrator privileges or overwrite any user account password, including the site owner's, leading to complete site takeover. The issue resides in the `pods admin` AJAX router, which handles security checks such as method allowlists, nonce verification, login enforcement, and capability gates through the `pods error()` function. Under the JSON `meta-box-loader` compatibility path, `pods error()` only logs failures to the PHP error log and returns false without terminating the request, allowing execution to continue to privileged API methods such as `save user()`. Over 100,000 active installations are potentially affected, and real-world incidents have been reported where attackers added unauthorized administrator users to websites.
**Recommendations**
Update the plugin to version 3.3.9.1 or the corresponding patched versions for older branches: 2.8.23.4, 2.9.19.4, 3.0.10.4, 3.1.4.2, or 3.2.8.3.