dbcve.org
Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2025-12174

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-19
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The Directorist: AI-Powered Business Directory Plugin with Classified Ads Listings plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access due to a missing capability check on the 'directorist_prepare_listings_export_file' and 'directorist_type_slug_change' AJAX actions in all versions up to, and including, 8.5.2. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to export listing details and change the directorist slug.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The Directorist WordPress plugin fails to enforce authorization checks on two AJAX endpoints ('directorist_prepare_listings_export_file' and 'directorist_type_slug_change'), allowing any authenticated user with Subscriber-level privileges to export all business listing data and modify directory slugs. This is a broken access control vulnerability where the AJAX handlers lack WordPress capability checks like current_user_can().

MitigationUpdate the plugin to version 8.5.3 or later which includes proper capability checks on these AJAX actions. If immediate update is not possible, implement a temporary firewall rule to restrict these AJAX endpoints to administrative users only.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Directorist plugin is installed and get version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and find Directorist. Check the version number displayed. Alternatively, check the plugin header in wp-content/plugins/directorist/includes/index.php or the main plugin file.
    Affected if The installed version is below 8.5.3 (the fixed version)
  2. Confirm AJAX action handlers exist in the codebase
    Search the plugin files for the strings 'directorist_prepare_listings_export_file' and 'directorist_type_slug_change' in wp-content/plugins/directorist/. Use grep or a file search to locate where these AJAX actions are registered.
    Affected if These AJAX action handlers exist in the plugin code (indicating the vulnerable endpoints are present)
  3. Inspect AJAX handlers for capability checks
    Open the PHP files containing the AJAX handlers and verify whether they include WordPress capability checks like current_user_can('manage_options') or similar administrative capabilities before processing the request.
    Affected if The AJAX handlers lack capability checks and allow execution for any authenticated user (including Subscriber role)
  4. Test endpoint accessibility with low-privilege account
    If you have a test environment, create a user with Subscriber role only. Attempt to access the AJAX endpoints via POST to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=directorist_prepare_listings_export_file or action=directorist_type_slug_change and observe if the request succeeds.
    Affected if The endpoints respond successfully to requests from a Subscriber-level user without returning a permission denied error

You are affected if the Directorist plugin version is below 8.5.3 AND the AJAX endpoints are accessible to low-privilege users without capability validation.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update the plugin to version 8.5.3 or later which includes proper capability checks on these AJAX actions. If immediate update is not possible, implement a temporary firewall rule to restrict these AJAX endpoints to administrative users only.

Recommended fix High confidence

Version 8.5.3 or later

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate the Directorist plugin
  4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to the latest version (8.5.3 or higher)
  5. Alternatively, manually download the latest version from wordpress.org/plugins/directorist and upload via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
  6. After updating, verify that the plugin functions correctly on the site

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-12174 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data