Code InjectionWeakness · CWE-94

CVE-2025-13642

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-12-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
60/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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 Paid Membership Plugin, Ecommerce, User Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content – ProfilePress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution in all versions up to, and including, 4.16.7 due to insufficient input sanitization on the `type` parameter in the form preview functionality. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to execute arbitrary shortcodes via the `pp_preview_form` endpoint.

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 ProfilePress WordPress plugin versions up to 4.16.7 fail to properly sanitize the 'type' parameter in the form preview functionality at the pp_preview_form endpoint, allowing authenticated users with Subscriber-level access or higher to inject and execute arbitrary shortcodes.

MitigationUpdate ProfilePress plugin to version 4.16.8 or later. If immediate update is not possible, restrict access to the pp_preview_form endpoint or disable the preview functionality until the patch can be applied.

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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. Check ProfilePress plugin version
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins > ProfilePress and locate the version number displayed under the plugin name
    Affected if Version is 4.16.7 or lower (any version up to and including 4.16.7)
  2. Confirm pp_preview_form endpoint exists
    Access the URL pattern /?pp_preview_form=1 or /wp-admin/?pp_preview_form=1 while logged in as a user with Subscriber-level access or higher
    Affected if The endpoint responds without returning a 404 or access denied error, indicating the vulnerable functionality is present
  3. Verify user role access
    In WordPress admin, go to Users > All Users and check if any users exist with the Subscriber role (or any custom role ranked Subscriber or higher)
    Affected if At least one user account with Subscriber-level access or higher exists in the WordPress installation
  4. Test shortcode execution capability
    With a Subscriber-level account, submit a request to the pp_preview_form endpoint with a malicious 'type' parameter value containing a shortcode (e.g., type=[shortcode])
    Affected if The shortcode is parsed and rendered in the response, confirming the injection vulnerability is exploitable

If ProfilePress version is 4.16.7 or lower AND the pp_preview_form endpoint is accessible to at least Subscriber-level users, the environment is affected by this CVE.

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 ProfilePress plugin to version 4.16.8 or later. If immediate update is not possible, restrict access to the pp_preview_form endpoint or disable the preview functionality until the patch can be applied.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

ProfilePress version 4.16.8 or later

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate the ProfilePress plugin in the plugin list
  4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version
  5. Alternatively, download the latest version from the official WordPress plugin repository at wordpress.org/plugins/profilepress/ and upload it manually via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
  6. After updating, verify the plugin is running version 4.16.8 or higher under Plugins > Installed Plugins

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,190
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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-2025-13642 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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