dbcve.org
Path TraversalWeakness · CWE-22

CVE-2025-14868

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 Career Section plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery leading to Path Traversal and Arbitrary File Deletion in all versions up to, and including, 1.6. This is due to missing nonce validation and insufficient file path validation on the delete action in the 'appform_options_page_html' function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to delete arbitrary files on the server via a forged request, granted they can trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.

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 Career Section WordPress plugin (versions up to 1.6) lacks nonce validation on the delete action in the appform_options_page_html function, combined with insufficient file path sanitization. This allows unauthenticated attackers to forge administrative requests via CSRF to perform path traversal (e.g., ../../etc/passwd) and delete arbitrary files on the server.

MitigationUpdate to version 1.7 or later which adds proper nonce validation and path sanitization. As an interim measure, advise administrators not to click untrusted links to prevent CSRF exploitation.

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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. Verify Career Section plugin is installed
    Check the WordPress plugins directory (wp-content/plugins/) for a folder named 'career-section' or similar, or view installed plugins in WordPress admin under Plugins
    Affected if Plugin folder exists in wp-content/plugins/
  2. Determine installed plugin version
    Open the main plugin PHP file (usually career-section.php or similar) and locate the 'Version:' header in the plugin comment block, or check the plugin row in WordPress admin Plugins page
    Affected if Version is 1.6 or lower (any version up to and including 1.6)
  3. Confirm vulnerable function exists
    Examine the plugin files for the 'appform_options_page_html' function, typically found in the main plugin file or admin class file
    Affected if Function 'appform_options_page_html' exists and contains a delete action without nonce validation
  4. Check file deletion capability is present
    Search the plugin code for file delete operations (unlink, delete, or similar) within the options page function
    Affected if Code contains file deletion logic without proper path validation or CSRF protection

You are affected if the Career Section plugin is installed with version 1.6 or lower and contains the vulnerable appform_options_page_html function with unprotected file deletion logic.

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 to version 1.7 or later which adds proper nonce validation and path sanitization. As an interim measure, advise administrators not to click untrusted links to prevent CSRF exploitation.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Version 1.7 or later of the Career Section plugin

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate the 'Career Section' plugin
  4. Check if an update is available (if not, manually download version 1.7 from WordPress.org)
  5. Update the plugin to version 1.7 or later
  6. Verify the update was successful by checking the plugin version

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
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

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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-2025-14868 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