Consulting - Business, Finance WordPress Theme <= 6.7.16 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via AJAX
The Consulting theme for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in versions up to, and including, 6.7.16. This is due to a combination of two flaws: (1) the masterstudy_ms_stm_set_discard_transient AJAX endpoint in admin/admin-notices/classes/STMHandler.php accepts an arbitrary transient key without capability checks or nonce validation, and (2) the developer access login mechanism in admin/classes/stm-theme-support.php authenticates users based on a transient value without proper cryptographic validation when in legacy string mode. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to set the stm_developer_access_token transient to a known value (1), then authenticate as any existing user including administrators by visiting a specially crafted URL, thereby achieving full privilege escalation to administrator.
Affected software
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| Platform | Package | Vulnerable versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress theme | Consulting - Business, Finance WordPress Theme | <= 6.7.16 | 6.7.17 |
References
- CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H- Weakness (CWE)
CWE-269- Platform
- WordPress
- Package
Consulting - Business, Finance WordPress Theme- Disclosed
- 14.09.2026
- Updated
- 11.10.2026 10:23
Sources and licenses
Wordfence Intelligence - bc8dffc2-ae5b-4482-9eba-adc439a52c26 - Wordfence Intelligence
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Vulnerability history: Consulting - Business, Finance WordPress Theme
All published vulnerabilities of this package (WordPress theme), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.
- Total entries
- 3
- First → latest
- 10.2025 09.2026
- Without a fix
- 1
- Exploited in attacks
- 0
Severity breakdown
- High 2
- Medium 1
Disclosures per year
- 2025: 2
- 2026: 1
-
Consulting - Business, Finance WordPress Theme <= 6.7.16 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via AJAX this entry
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