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Incorrect Privilege AssignmentWeakness · CWE-266

CVE-2025-39489

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Incorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerability in pebas CouponXL couponxl allows Privilege Escalation.This issue affects CouponXL: from n/a through <= 4.5.0.

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 · low confidence

The CouponXL WordPress plugin through version 4.5.0 contains an Incorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerability (CWE-266) that allows authenticated users to escalate their privileges beyond what their assigned role should permit, potentially achieving administrator-level access.

MitigationUpdate CouponXL to the latest version if available, or implement proper capability checks and role validation on all user-facing administrative functions to prevent privilege escalation.

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 CouponXL plugin is installed
    Check the WordPress plugins directory at wp-content/plugins/ for the couponxl folder, or navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins in the WordPress admin dashboard and look for CouponXL.
    Affected if The CouponXL plugin folder exists in the plugins directory or is listed in the WordPress admin plugins page.
  2. Determine installed CouponXL version
    Access the WordPress admin dashboard, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins, find CouponXL, and note the version number displayed. Alternatively, inspect the main plugin file (e.g., couponxl.php) and look for the 'Version' header comment.
    Affected if The displayed version is 4.5.0 or any version prior to 4.5.0.
  3. Review WordPress user accounts for privilege escalation indicators
    Navigate to Users > All Users in the WordPress admin dashboard and examine the list of registered users. Look for any administrator-level accounts that were created after the CouponXL plugin was activated, or accounts with unexpected administrator privileges.
    Affected if There are administrator accounts that were not created by an existing administrator, or user role assignments do not match expected permissions.
  4. Check for unauthorized admin capability assignments
    Use a user role editor plugin or query the wp_usermeta table directly to inspect capabilities assigned to non-administrator accounts. Look for meta_key values like wp_capabilities that contain 'administrator' for users who should not have admin rights.
    Affected if Any user account other than known administrators has administrator-level capabilities assigned.

A user is affected if the CouponXL plugin version is 4.5.0 or earlier, and unauthorized administrator accounts or elevated privileges exist in the WordPress user database.

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 CouponXL to the latest version if available, or implement proper capability checks and role validation on all user-facing administrative functions to prevent privilege escalation.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest version of CouponXL theme after 4.5.0 (contact vendor for exact version number)

  1. 1. Check the official WordPress repository or ThemeForest/CodeCanyon for the latest version of CouponXL theme
  2. 2. Compare the current installed version (4.5.0 or earlier) with the latest available version
  3. 3. Create a full backup of the WordPress site including database and files
  4. 4. Test the upgrade in a staging environment first if possible
  5. 5. Update CouponXL theme to the latest available version from the original source
  6. 6. Verify the privilege escalation vulnerability is resolved by testing user role capabilities
Caveat Test all theme functionality in staging before deploying to production as customizations may be affected

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2025-39489 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