CVE-2025-12898
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 · uneditedThe Pretty Google Calendar plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access of data due to a missing capability check on the pgcal_ajax_handler() function in all versions up to, and including, 2.0.0. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to retrieve the Google API key set in the plugin's settings.
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 confidenceThe Pretty Google Calendar WordPress plugin has a broken access control vulnerability where the pgcal_ajax_handler() function lacks a capability check. This allows any unauthenticated user to make AJAX requests and retrieve the Google API key configured in plugin settings, exposing sensitive credentials.
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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm plugin is installedNavigate to WordPress admin > Plugins and look for 'Pretty Google Calendar' or check the plugins directory for the pgcal folderAffected if The plugin is installed and active
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Check installed versionIn WordPress admin > Plugins, find Pretty Google Calendar and read the version number displayed below the plugin name. Alternatively, open wp-content/plugins/pretty-google-calendar/readme.txt and check the version in the headerAffected if Version is below 2.0.1 (the fixed version)
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Test unauthenticated AJAX accessSend a POST request to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=pgcal_ajax_handler and observe the response. Example: curl -X POST https://yoursite.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php -d 'action=pgcal_ajax_handler'Affected if The request returns a successful response without requiring authentication or a nonce token
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Verify API key exposureExamine the response from the AJAX request in step 3. Look for the Google API key in the returned data (typically in a field named 'api_key', 'key', or within plugin settings response)Affected if The response contains a Google API key or other sensitive credential that should not be accessible to unauthenticated users
If the plugin is installed, version is below 2.0.1, and the AJAX endpoint responds to unauthenticated requests with API credentials, the environment is affected by CVE-2025-12898.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataUpdate to version 2.0.1 or later which includes the missing capability check. If no update is available, consider disabling the plugin, restricting the ajax endpoint via .htaccess or web server rules, and rotate the exposed API key as a precautionary measure.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-12898 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-12898 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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