dbcve.org
Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2025-14463

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 Payment Button for PayPal plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized order creation in all versions up to, and including, 1.2.3.41. This is due to the plugin exposing a public AJAX endpoint (`wppaypalcheckout_ajax_process_order`) that processes checkout results without any authentication or server-side verification of the PayPal transaction. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to create arbitrary orders on the site with any chosen transaction ID, payment status, product name, amount, or customer information via direct POST requests to the AJAX endpoint, granted they can bypass basic parameter validation. If email sending is enabled, the plugin will also trigger purchase receipt emails to any email address supplied in the request, leading to order database corruption and unauthorized outgoing emails without any real PayPal transaction taking place.

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 Payment Button for PayPal WordPress plugin exposes a public AJAX endpoint (wppaypalcheckout_ajax_process_order) that lacks authentication and server-side PayPal transaction verification. Unauthenticated attackers can POST arbitrary order data including fake transaction IDs, payment status, amounts, and customer information directly to this endpoint, leading to order database corruption and unauthorized purchase receipt emails if email sending is enabled.

MitigationReplace the vulnerable endpoint with one that requires authentication and implements server-side PayPal transaction verification (e.g., PayPal IPN/PDT) to validate all transactions before creating orders; alternatively, upgrade to a patched version when available.

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
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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. Identify if the Payment Button for PayPal plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Payment Button for PayPal' or check the wp-content/plugins directory for a folder named similarly to 'payment-button-for-paypal' or containing 'wppaypal'
    Affected if The plugin is installed and active
  2. Determine the installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin Plugins list, click on the plugin to view details and note the version number, or open the main plugin PHP file and look for the 'Version' header in the plugin comments
    Affected if Version is at or below any vulnerable release (no patched version explicitly documented)
  3. Verify the vulnerable AJAX endpoint exists
    Check the plugin source code for the action hook 'wppaypalcheckout_ajax_process_order' registered via add_action with no authentication check (no 'wp_ajax_nopriv' exclusion or capability check); alternatively, attempt a POST request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=wppaypalcheckout_ajax_process_order
    Affected if The endpoint is registered without authentication requirements (no check for logged-in users or nonce validation)
  4. Confirm lack of PayPal transaction verification
    Examine the PHP handler function for the endpoint to see if it calls PayPal IPN, PDT, or SDK to verify transaction status with PayPal before creating order records
    Affected if The code creates orders based solely on submitted POST data without contacting PayPal to validate the transaction ID and amount

You are affected if the Payment Button for PayPal plugin is installed, the vulnerable unauthenticated AJAX endpoint is exposed, and orders are created without PayPal server-side verification.

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

Replace the vulnerable endpoint with one that requires authentication and implements server-side PayPal transaction verification (e.g., PayPal IPN/PDT) to validate all transactions before creating orders; alternatively, upgrade to a patched version when available.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Payment Button for PayPal plugin version 1.2.3.42 or latest release

  1. Upgrade the Payment Button for PayPal plugin to the latest available version from the WordPress plugin repository
  2. After upgrading, verify the `wppaypalcheckout_ajax_process_order` endpoint now requires authentication or implements server-side PayPal transaction verification
  3. If email sending was enabled, audit the order database for any unauthorized orders created during the exploitation period
  4. Review and remove any spurious orders and associated customer data added during the attack
  5. Consider implementing additional server-side validation or Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules as a temporary mitigation until the upgrade is completed

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,180
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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-2025-14463 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