---
id: CVE-2026-120538
title: >-
  Easy Digital Downloads <= 3.7.2 - Unauthenticated Authentication Bypass to
  Administrator Account Takeover via Guest Checkout Email Binding at PayPal
  Capture
summary: >-
  The Easy Digital Downloads plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to
  authentication bypass leading to administrator account takeover in all
  versions up to, and including, 3.7.2. During a PayPal guest checkout, the
  email address entered in th…
severity: high
cvss: 8.1
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cvssSource: cna
cwe:
  - CWE-287
vendor: smub
product: Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy
affected:
  - >-
    easy_digital_downloads_ecommerce_payments_and_subscriptions_made_easy <=
    3.7.2
published: '2026-11-03'
updated: '2026-11-03'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-03T04:43:10.981Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-120538'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f4250328-6d6c-4eb1-9ef2-334774c1d337?source=cve
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/includes/user-functions.php#L428
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/includes/customers/customer-actions.php#L49
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/includes/orders/functions/orders.php#L798
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/src/Gateways/PayPal/V3/PurchaseUser.php#L174
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/easy-digital-downloads/tags/3.7.0/includes/gateways/paypal/checkout-actions.php#L681
  - url: 'https://wordpress.org/plugins/easy-digital-downloads/'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.0043
epssPercentile: 0.37325
ingestedAt: '2026-11-05T19:30:42.892Z'
---

## Overview

The Easy Digital Downloads plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass leading to administrator account takeover in all versions up to, and including, 3.7.2. During a PayPal guest checkout, the email address entered in the guest-checkout field is trusted as proof of identity: edd_get_purchase_form_user() binds the new guest order to an existing WordPress user purely on an email-address match, rewriting the order's user_id to that user's ID. The PayPal capture sink PurchaseUser::maybe_log_in_after_capture() then looked the user up by the order email (get_user_by( 'email', $order->email )) and, when $order->user_id equalled that user's ID (which the email-binding step guarantees), issued an authenticated session with wp_set_auth_cookie(). An unauthenticated attacker who starts a guest checkout using an administrator's email address (where that administrator has no existing EDD customer record) and completes the PayPal purchase flow therefore receives an authenticated session as that administrator — a full account takeover. The same sink is reachable through the standard PayPal checkout and the REST UnbrandedCard and Fastlane flows.

## Affected

- `easy_digital_downloads_ecommerce_payments_and_subscriptions_made_easy <= 3.7.2`

## Remediation

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