dbcve.org
Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2025-14386

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 Search Atlas SEO – Premier SEO Plugin for One-Click WP Publishing & Integrated AI Optimization plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass due to a missing capability check on the 'generate_sso_url' and 'validate_sso_token' functions in versions 2.4.4 to 2.5.12. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to extract the 'nonce_token' authentication value to log in to the first Administrator's account.

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 Search Atlas SEO plugin for WordPress fails to perform capability checks on the 'generate_sso_url' and 'validate_sso_token' functions in versions 2.4.4 through 2.5.12. This allows any authenticated user with Subscriber-level access or higher to call these functions and extract the 'nonce_token' authentication value, which can then be used to impersonate and gain access to the first Administrator account on the WordPress site.

MitigationUpdate the Search Atlas SEO plugin to version 2.5.13 or later immediately. If immediate updating is not possible, disable the plugin or restrict access to the affected endpoints at the server level 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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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. Locate the Search Atlas SEO plugin directory
    Check the wp-content/plugins/ directory for a folder named 'search-atlas-seo', 'atlas-seo', or similar variant containing 'search-atlas' or 'atlas' in the name
    Affected if The plugin directory exists in wp-content/plugins/
  2. Identify the installed plugin version
    Open the main plugin PHP file or readme.txt in the plugin directory and locate the 'Version:' field in the plugin header comment
    Affected if The version number falls within the range 2.4.4 through 2.5.12 inclusive
  3. Verify WordPress user roles exist
    Navigate to Users > All Users in the WordPress admin panel or query the wp_users and wp_usermeta tables to confirm the presence of users with Subscriber, Contributor, Author, or Editor roles
    Affected if Any user account with Subscriber-level access or higher exists on the site (which is typical for most WordPress installations)
  4. Confirm the vulnerable SSO functions are present
    Examine the main plugin PHP file for the presence of functions named 'generate_sso_url' and 'validate_sso_token' - these are the functions lacking capability checks
    Affected if Both functions exist in the plugin code, indicating the vulnerability is present

A user is affected if the Search Atlas SEO plugin is installed with version 2.4.4 through 2.5.12 and the site has at least one user with Subscriber-level access or higher.

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 Search Atlas SEO plugin to version 2.5.13 or later immediately. If immediate updating is not possible, disable the plugin or restrict access to the affected endpoints at the server level until the patch can be applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Version 2.5.13 or latest available version

  1. Log in to WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Find 'Search Atlas SEO' plugin
  4. Check the current version to confirm it's between 2.4.4 and 2.5.12
  5. Click 'Update Now' if an update is available, or manually download the latest version from wordpress.org/plugins/search-atlas-seo/ and upload via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
  6. After updating, verify the plugin version is 2.5.13 or later
  7. Test that the SSO functionality still works correctly for legitimate users
Caveat Review plugin settings after upgrade as minor configuration changes may occur

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
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
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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-2025-14386 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
  • 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