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Incorrect Privilege AssignmentWeakness · CWE-266

CVE-2025-31524

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-04-10
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
Incorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerability in John James Jacoby WP User Profiles wp-users-profiles allows Privilege Escalation.This issue affects WP User Profiles: from n/a through <= 2.6.2.

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 privilege escalation vulnerability in the WP User Profiles WordPress plugin caused by incorrect privilege assignment. Users with lower-level privileges can apparently access or modify user profile data that should be restricted to higher-privileged roles, allowing them to elevate their own privileges within the WordPress installation.

MitigationUpdate WP User Profiles plugin to the latest version beyond 2.6.2. If no patched version is available, consider removing the plugin until a fix is released, or manually audit the plugin code for missing capability checks (e.g., current_user_can() calls) before 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
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 WP User Profiles plugin is installed
    Log in to WordPress admin dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. Look for 'WP User Profiles' in the list. Alternatively, check the /wp-content/plugins/ directory for a folder named 'wp-user-profiles'.
    Affected if The plugin is present on the WordPress site
  2. Determine installed plugin version
    In the WordPress admin under Plugins > Instored Plugins, click on the WP User Profiles plugin to view its details and version number. Alternatively, check the main plugin file (usually wp-user-profiles.php) for the 'Version' header comment.
    Affected if Version is 2.6.2 or lower, or if the version cannot be determined (unknown/blank)
  3. Check if WordPress user registration is enabled
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Settings > General > 'Membership' section and verify if 'Anyone can register' is checked. Also check for any frontend registration forms that may accept new user submissions.
    Affected if User registration is enabled, creating a pathway for the privilege escalation to be exploited
  4. Audit user roles and capabilities
    Navigate to Users > Users in WordPress admin. Review the existing user roles and check if any users have been granted elevated capabilities beyond their intended role level. Examine the wp_usermeta table for any unexpected capability modifications.
    Affected if Users exist with capabilities that do not match their assigned role, or lower-privileged users can access higher-privileged profile data

A site is affected if WP User Profiles plugin is installed with version 2.6.2 or lower, especially when user registration or multiple user roles are present.

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 WP User Profiles plugin to the latest version beyond 2.6.2. If no patched version is available, consider removing the plugin until a fix is released, or manually audit the plugin code for missing capability checks (e.g., current_user_can() calls) before sensitive operations.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest version of WP User Profiles plugin (version higher than 2.6.2)

  1. 1. Backup your WordPress site and database before making any changes.
  2. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins in your WordPress admin dashboard.
  3. 3. Locate the 'WP User Profiles' plugin (also known as 'wp-users-profiles').
  4. 4. Check the current installed version of the plugin.
  5. 5. If the installed version is 2.6.2 or lower, update the plugin to the latest available version.
  6. 6. After updating, verify the plugin version to confirm the update was successful.
  7. 7. Test user role assignments and privilege-sensitive functionality to ensure the vulnerability is remediated.

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

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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-2025-31524 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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