dbcve.org
Improper Privilege ManagementWeakness · CWE-269

CVE-2025-13851

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-19
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 Buyent Classified plugin for WordPress (bundled with Buyent theme) is vulnerable to privilege escalation via user registration in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.7. This is due to the plugin not validating or restricting the user role during registration via the REST API endpoint. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to register accounts with arbitrary roles, including administrator, by manipulating the _buyent_classified_user_type parameter during the registration process, granting them complete control over the WordPress site.

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 Buyent Classified WordPress plugin exposes a REST API registration endpoint that fails to validate or restrict the user role parameter. Unauthenticated attackers can manipulate the _buyent_classified_user_type parameter during registration to assign arbitrary roles, including administrator, gaining full site control.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to version 1.0.8 or later which implements proper role validation, or temporarily disable user registration functionality until the patch is 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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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. Identify if Buyent Classified plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Buyent Classified' or check the /wp-content/plugins/ directory for a folder named 'buyent-classified'. Review the plugin file header or changelog for the version number.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and the version is lower than the patched version (compare against any official security release notes).
  2. Confirm REST API user registration endpoint exists
    Send a POST request to /wp-json/buyent-classified/v1/register (or inspect plugin files for REST route registration in includes/class-buyent-classified-rest.php). The vulnerability exists if this endpoint accepts unauthenticated requests.
    Affected if The REST API endpoint is publicly accessible without authentication.
  3. Test for role manipulation vulnerability
    Send a POST request to the registration endpoint with a modified _buyent_classified_user_type parameter set to 'administrator' or another privileged role, without providing valid authentication credentials.
    Affected if The server accepts the role parameter and creates a user with the specified role without validating user permissions.
  4. Audit existing user accounts for unauthorized administrators
    Go to WordPress admin > Users and review all accounts with Administrator role. Check user registration dates and email addresses for anything suspicious or unknown. Query the wp_users and wp_usermeta tables directly if needed.
    Affected if There are administrator accounts you did not create or that were registered recently without your action.
  5. Review user registration settings
    Go to WordPress admin > Settings > General and check 'Membership: Anyone can register' setting. Also check if the Buyent Classified plugin has its own registration settings enabled.
    Affected if User registration is enabled and the plugin allows public registration through its REST endpoint.

You are affected if the Buyent Classified plugin is installed with an unpatched version, the REST API registration endpoint is exposed, and unauthorized administrator accounts exist in your WordPress users table.

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 1.0.8 or later which implements proper role validation, or temporarily disable user registration functionality until the patch is applied.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest version of Buyent Classified plugin/Buyent theme (version higher than 1.0.7)

  1. Check the current version of the Buyent Classified plugin or Buyent theme installed on the WordPress site
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins or Appearance > Themes to verify the current version
  3. If the plugin/theme is at version 1.0.7 or below, update to the latest available version from the vendor (ThemeForest or the theme developer)
  4. After updating, verify that the _buyent_classified_user_type parameter is no longer accepted or is properly validated/restricted in the REST API registration process
  5. Confirm that newly registered users are no longer able to assign themselves administrative roles
  6. If no update is available from the vendor, consider removing the Buyent Classified plugin or switching to an alternative classifieds solution
  7. Implement additional monitoring for new user registrations, especially those with administrative roles
Caveat Review plugin/theme changelog for any breaking changes before upgrading in production environments

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2025-13851 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
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