Privilege escalation in Alextselegidis Plainpad

CVE-2026-42562

Plainpad is a self hosted note taking app. Prior to version 1.1.1, Plainpad allows a low-privilege authenticated user to self-escalate to administrator by submitting admin=true in PUT /api.php/v1/users/{id}. The endpoint directly persists the admin attribute from user input, and the escalated account can immediately access admin-only routes. This issue has been patched in version 1.1.1.

Vulnerability class: Privilege Escalation

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.3 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.005 (37.1th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 37th percentile — 37.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-42562: held from 0.003 to 0.005.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.005 · change: +0.002

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-42562?
CVE-2026-42562 is a high-severity vulnerability in Alextselegidis Plainpad, classified under Improper Privilege Management. CVSS score: 8.3/10. Published 2026-05-09.
How severe is CVE-2026-42562?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.3 out of 10.