CVE-2025-3453
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 · uneditedThe Password Protected – Password Protect your WordPress Site, Pages, & WooCommerce Products – Restrict Content, Protect WooCommerce Category and more plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 2.7.7 via the 'password_protected_cookie' function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to extract sensitive data including all protected site content if the 'Use Transient' setting is enabled.
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 confidenceThe Password Protected WordPress plugin has a sensitive information exposure vulnerability in the password_protected_cookie function. When the 'Use Transient' setting is enabled (which appears to be a default or common configuration), unauthenticated attackers can extract sensitive data including all protected site content due to improper handling of transient data.
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
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Verify Password Protected plugin is installedGo to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins and confirm 'Password Protected' plugin is activeAffected if plugin is installed and active
-
Check installed plugin versionIn Plugins list, locate Password Protected and view the version number; compare against the fixed version (2.7.8)Affected if version is lower than 2.7.8
-
Verify Use Transient setting is enabledGo to Settings > Password Protected and check if 'Use Transient' option is checked/enabledAffected if Use Transient setting is enabled (this is the vulnerable configuration)
-
Inspect plugin configuration file for transient usageAccess WordPress database or wp-options table; look for option_name containing 'password_protected_transient' or similar transient entriesAffected if transient data is being stored by the plugin
-
Check for unauthorized access indicatorsReview web server access logs for requests to ?password_protected= or cookie-based access patterns that may indicate exploitation attemptsAffected if suspicious patterns found in logs referencing password protection cookies
Environment is affected if the Password Protected plugin version is below 2.7.8 AND the Use Transient setting is enabled, allowing unauthenticated sensitive data exposure.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedUpdate to plugin version 2.7.8 or later. Alternatively, if immediate update is not possible, disable the 'Use Transient' setting in the plugin configuration as a temporary workaround.
2.7.8 or later
- 1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
- 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
- 3. Find the 'Password Protected' plugin
- 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to version 2.7.8 or later
- 5. Alternatively, download the latest version from wordpress.org/plugins/password-protected/ and upload manually
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-3453 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-3453 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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