dbcve.org
Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2025-14397

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-12-13
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 Postem Ipsum plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data to Privilege Escalation due to a missing capability check on the postem_ipsum_generate_users() function in all versions up to, and including, 3.0.1. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to create arbitrary user accounts with the administrator role.

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 Postem Ipsum WordPress plugin lacks a capability check on the postem_ipsum_generate_users() function, which allows any authenticated user with Subscriber-level access to call this function and create arbitrary user accounts with Administrator privileges, resulting in privilege escalation.

MitigationUpdate the Postem Ipsum plugin to version 3.0.2 or later, which should include proper capability checks on the affected function. Until then, disable the plugin or restrict site registration.

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. Confirm Postem Ipsum plugin is installed
    Navigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins page, or inspect the plugin directory at wp-content/plugins/postem-ipsum/ to verify the plugin files exist.
    Affected if The Postem Ipsum plugin is present in the WordPress installation.
  2. Check installed plugin version
    In the Plugins page of WordPress admin, find the Postem Ipsum entry and note the version number displayed. Alternatively, open the main plugin file (postem-ipsum.php) and look for the Version header comment.
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 3.0.2 (for example, 3.0.1, 3.0.0, or earlier versions).
  3. Verify WordPress user roles exist
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Users page and review the list of registered users. Check the Role column to identify any users assigned the Subscriber role.
    Affected if There is at least one user with the Subscriber role (or any role below Administrator) registered on the site.
  4. Inspect for suspicious Administrator accounts
    Review all users with Administrator role on the Users page. Look for accounts you do not recognize, created recently, or created by unknown means. Cross-reference creation dates with plugin version timeline if available.
    Affected if There are Administrator accounts that were not created by an existing Administrator through the standard WordPress admin interface.

A user is affected if the Postem Ipsum plugin version is below 3.0.2 and there is at least one Subscriber-level user account on the site who could potentially create unauthorized Administrator accounts.

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 Postem Ipsum plugin to version 3.0.2 or later, which should include proper capability checks on the affected function. Until then, disable the plugin or restrict site registration.

Recommended fix High confidence

Version 3.0.2 or latest available on wordpress.org

  1. Log in to WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate 'Postem Ipsum' in the plugin list
  4. If the plugin shows a version lower than 3.0.2, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to version 3.0.2 or latest available version
  5. Alternatively, download the latest version from wordpress.org/plugins/postem-ipsum/ and upload via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
  6. After update, verify the new version number in the plugins list
  7. Confirm the capability check is now properly enforced by testing that lower-privileged users cannot access admin functions

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 / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,210
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,936.

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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-2025-14397 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