Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2025-23771

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
74/100
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
Missing Authorization vulnerability in Murali Push Notification for Post and BuddyPress push-notification-for-post-and-buddypress allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects Push Notification for Post and BuddyPress: from n/a through <= 2.11.

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 · moderate confidence

This is a missing authorization vulnerability in the WordPress plugin 'Push Notification for Post and BuddyPress'. The plugin fails to properly validate user capabilities before allowing access to certain functions, allowing authenticated attackers (with low-level privileges) to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels and perform actions they should not be authorized to perform.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to the latest version once a patch is released. If no patch is available, disable the plugin immediately and implement proper capability checks (using current_user_can() or similar WordPress authorization functions) on all AJAX actions and admin pages before processing sensitive operations.

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
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

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 plugin is installed and active
    Go to WordPress admin > Plugins and check if 'Push Notification for Post and BuddyPress' is installed and activated
    Affected if The plugin is installed and active in the WordPress environment
  2. Identify installed plugin version
    Check the plugin header in the main plugin file (usually in wp-content/plugins/push-notification-for-post-and-buddypress/push-notification-for-post-and-buddypress.php) for the 'Version' field, or view the plugin details in the WordPress plugins page
    Affected if The installed version is any version prior to the patched release (check the plugin repository for the latest fixed version)
  3. Inspect AJAX action handlers for missing capability checks
    Examine the plugin's PHP files for AJAX action handlers (add_action('wp_ajax_...')) and verify each handler includes current_user_can() or similar capability checks before processing sensitive operations. Search for files containing 'wp_ajax_' and review each callback function
    Affected if Any AJAX action handler processes sensitive data or performs privileged operations without first verifying the user has appropriate capabilities (e.g., 'manage_options', 'edit_posts')
  4. Check admin page access controls
    Review the plugin's admin menu registration and page handlers. Look for add_menu_page(), add_submenu_page(), or admin_init hooks that lack capability verification. Inspect each admin page callback to confirm it calls current_user_can() before executing privileged actions
    Affected if Admin pages or functions can be accessed or executed by users with low-level privileges (e.g., subscriber, contributor) without proper capability validation
  5. Verify role-based access control configuration
    If the plugin has settings for access control levels, check the plugin options (Settings > Push Notification or similar) to see what user roles are permitted to send notifications or manage plugin features. Test with a low-privilege user account (e.g., subscriber) to confirm they can access restricted functions
    Affected if Low-privilege users (without administrator or editor roles) can send push notifications or access sensitive plugin features

The environment is affected if the plugin is installed and any AJAX handlers or admin pages process privileged actions without verifying the user has appropriate capabilities, allowing low-privilege authenticated users to perform unauthorized actions.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update the plugin to the latest version once a patch is released. If no patch is available, disable the plugin immediately and implement proper capability checks (using current_user_can() or similar WordPress authorization functions) on all AJAX actions and admin pages before processing sensitive operations.

Have this fixed 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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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-23771 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
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