---
id: CVE-2026-85655
title: >-
  Enable Media Replace <= 4.2.2 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated
  (Author+) Post Content Modification via Media Replacement Workflow
summary: >-
  The Enable Media Replace plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization
  bypass in all versions up to, and including, 4.2.2. This is due to the plugin
  not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This
  makes …
severity: medium
cvss: 4.3
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N'
cvssSource: cna
cwe:
  - CWE-862
vendor: shortpixel
product: Enable Media Replace
affected:
  - enable_media_replace <= 4.2.2
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-10-29T01:28:20.530450Z'
published: '2026-10-28'
updated: '2026-10-29'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-29T01:41:49.939Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-85655'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/aff42473-63c6-41ca-8312-058f213e2302?source=cve
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/enable-media-replace/tags/4.2.2/build/shortpixel/replacer/src/Replacer.php#L250
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/enable-media-replace/tags/4.2.2/classes/ViewController/UploadViewController.php#L59
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/enable-media-replace/tags/4.2.2/classes/ViewController/UploadViewController.php#L66
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/enable-media-replace/tags/4.2.2/classes/Controller/ReplaceController.php#L253
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/enable-media-replace/tags/4.1.9/build/shortpixel/replacer/src/Replacer.php#L250
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/enable-media-replace/tags/4.1.9/classes/ViewController/UploadViewController.php#L59
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/enable-media-replace/tags/4.1.9/classes/ViewController/UploadViewController.php#L66
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/enable-media-replace/tags/4.1.9/classes/Controller/ReplaceController.php#L253
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/short-pixel-optimizer/enable-media-replace/releases/tag/v4.2.3
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00272
epssPercentile: 0.19622
ingestedAt: '2026-10-28T08:07:15.090Z'
---

## Overview

The Enable Media Replace plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass in all versions up to, and including, 4.2.2. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with author-level access and above, to modify the post_content of any published post referencing the replaced media — including Administrator-owned posts — making changes immediately visible to unauthenticated visitors. The doReplaceQuery() method performs a database-wide search-and-replace across all posts containing the old media URL without any per-post capability check, meaning a single Author-triggered request can silently overwrite a large number of posts that WordPress's standard admin UI and REST API would otherwise forbid that user from editing.

## Affected

- `enable_media_replace <= 4.2.2`

## Remediation

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