---
id: CVE-2026-86583
title: >-
  The Import and export users and customers plugin for WordPress is vulnerable
  to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.17 via the
  plugin's own export and re-import workflow
summary: >-
  The Import and export users and customers plugin for WordPress is vulnerable
  to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.17 via the
  plugin's own export and re-import workflow. The vulnerability exists because
  the ex…
severity: high
cvss: 8.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-266
vendor: carazo
product: Import and export users and customers
affected:
  - import_and_export_users_and_customers <= 2.4.17
published: '2026-09-23'
updated: '2026-09-24'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-24T14:42:02.707'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-86583'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/import-users-from-csv-with-meta/tags/2.4.17/classes/batch_exporter.php#L459
    label: security@wordfence.com
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/import-users-from-csv-with-meta/tags/2.4.17/classes/helper.php#L78
    label: security@wordfence.com
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/import-users-from-csv-with-meta/tags/2.4.17/classes/import.php#L1356
    label: security@wordfence.com
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/import-users-from-csv-with-meta/tags/2.4.17/classes/import.php#L872
    label: security@wordfence.com
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/import-users-from-csv-with-meta/tags/2.4.17/classes/import.php#L888
    label: security@wordfence.com
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3687349/import-users-from-csv-with-meta
    label: security@wordfence.com
  - url: >-
      https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/5b0f3444-4c10-45ce-a00b-4ed6038b8846?source=cve
    label: security@wordfence.com
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-09-24T13:22:48.155521Z'
ingestedAt: '2026-09-23T21:33:13.542Z'
epss: 0.00333
epssPercentile: 0.24003
---

## Overview

The Import and export users and customers plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.17 via the plugin's own export and re-import workflow. The vulnerability exists because the exporter writes CSV cells using fputcsv() with a NUL byte (\0) as the escape character, while the importer parses the same file using SplFileObject::fgetcsv() with only a single delimiter argument, causing PHP's default backslash escape character to be applied instead; because the export column layout places display_name immediately before the role column and nickname immediately after, an attacker can store crafted values in those two profile fields — saved by WordPress core via the standard profile page — such that the escape mismatch causes the parser to merge the display_name cell into the role field and rebalance the column count via nickname, yielding administrator as the parsed role for their own row when it reaches the import_user function's add_role function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access or above to escalate their privileges to Administrator. Exploitation requires a site administrator to trigger the plugin's documented export re-import migration with both "Update existing users" and "Update roles for existing users" set to "yes".

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.