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UlistingWordPress extension · Stylemixthemes

CVE-2025-1653

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.1.7 or later.
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 Directory Listings WordPress plugin – uListing plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 2.2.0. This is due to the stm_listing_profile_edit AJAX action not having enough restriction on the user meta that can be updated. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to elevate their privileges to that of an administrator.

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 uListing WordPress plugin contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the stm_listing_profile_edit AJAX action. The action allows authenticated users with Subscriber-level access to update arbitrary user meta fields without proper restrictions, enabling attackers to modify their user role to administrator.

MitigationRestrict the stm_listing_profile_edit AJAX action to only allow updating of safe, non-privileged user meta fields and implement proper capability checks (e.g., manage_options) before allowing role-related modifications. Update to version 2.2.1 or later when available.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
UlistingWordPress extension
Affected:<= 2.1.7

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. Verify uListing plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'uListing' by Stylemixthemes. Note the installed version number displayed there.
    Affected if uListing plugin is present and version is 2.1.7 or lower
  2. Confirm installed version against affected range
    Compare the noted version number to the affected range: any version <= 2.1.7 is vulnerable. Check plugin version in the plugin header or in the version file /wp-content/plugins/ulisting/includes/version.php if accessible.
    Affected if Installed version is 2.1.7 or lower
  3. Verify AJAX endpoint is accessible
    Check if the stm_listing_profile_edit AJAX action is registered and accessible. This can be confirmed by examining the plugin's AJAX handlers in /wp-content/plugins/ulisting/classes/Ajax.php or similar, looking for add_action('wp_ajax_stm_listing_profile_edit', ...).
    Affected if The AJAX action is registered without capability checks for subscriber-level users
  4. Check for subscriber-level user accounts
    In WordPress admin, go to Users and review which users have the Subscriber role assigned. These users would be able to exploit the vulnerability if the plugin is vulnerable.
    Affected if Any user accounts exist with Subscriber role and the plugin version is <= 2.1.7

You are affected if uListing plugin version 2.1.7 or lower is installed and any Subscriber-level user accounts exist on the site, allowing privilege escalation via the unauthenticated stm_listing_profile_edit AJAX action.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.1.7
Interim mitigation

Restrict the stm_listing_profile_edit AJAX action to only allow updating of safe, non-privileged user meta fields and implement proper capability checks (e.g., manage_options) before allowing role-related modifications. Update to version 2.2.1 or later when available.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

uListing version 2.2.0 or later

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate the uListing plugin
  4. Check the current version number to confirm it is <= 2.1.7 or <= 2.2.0
  5. Click 'Update now' if an update is available, or manually download version 2.2.0 or later from wordpress.org/plugins/ulisting
  6. After updating, verify that the stm_listing_profile_edit AJAX action no longer allows privilege escalation by testing with a subscriber-level account
  7. Confirm the update was successful by checking the plugin version in the installed plugins list
Caveat Review plugin settings after upgrade as minor configuration changes may have been introduced in the update

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

Fix this in Ulisting Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.

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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-2025-1653 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