dbcve.org
Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2025-12892

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
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 Survey Maker plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing capability check on the deactivate_plugin_option() function in all versions up to, and including, 5.1.9.4. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to update the ays_survey_maker_upgrade_plugin option.

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 Survey Maker WordPress plugin has a missing capability check on the deactivate_plugin_option() function in versions up to 5.1.9.4, allowing unauthenticated attackers to update the ays_survey_maker_upgrade_plugin option in the database via an insecure direct object reference.

MitigationUpdate to version 5.1.9.5 or later which implements proper capability verification before allowing option modifications, or remove the vulnerable function if not required.

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
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 Survey Maker plugin is installed
    Check your WordPress plugins directory for the Survey Maker plugin, or query the wp_plugins table for 'survey-maker' or 'ays-survey-maker' entry
    Affected if Plugin is not installed or not found in the WordPress environment
  2. Determine installed plugin version
    Read the main plugin file (usually ays-survey-maker.php or survey-maker.php) and check the 'Version' header in the plugin comments, or query wp_options for option_name='active_plugins' and examine the plugin version from its headers
    Affected if Installed version is 5.1.9.4 or lower (any version up to and including 5.1.9.4)
  3. Confirm vulnerable option exists
    Query the WordPress database: SELECT * FROM wp_options WHERE option_name = 'ays_survey_maker_upgrade_plugin' (wp_ prefix may vary)
    Affected if The option exists in the database, indicating the plugin was previously activated and the vulnerable code path is present
  4. Check if AJAX action is exposed
    Inspect the plugin source code for the 'deactivate_plugin_option' AJAX action hook (usually add_action('wp_ajax_deactivate_plugin_option' or 'wp_ajax_nopriv_deactivate_plugin_option')) and verify if 'nopriv' is present allowing unauthenticated access
    Affected if The AJAX action is hooked without a capability check and is accessible to unauthenticated users (wp_ajax_nopriv_ hook exists)

A user is affected if the Survey Maker plugin version is 5.1.9.4 or lower and the vulnerable AJAX endpoint is accessible without authentication.

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 to version 5.1.9.5 or later which implements proper capability verification before allowing option modifications, or remove the vulnerable function if not required.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Version 5.2.0 or later

  1. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate 'The Survey Maker' plugin
  4. Click 'Update now' if an update is available, or manually download the latest version from wordpress.org
  5. Verify the update is to version 5.2.0 or higher

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-12892 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