dbcve.org
Improper AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-285

CVE-2025-4474

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-13
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
The Frontend Dashboard plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation due to a missing capability check on the fed_admin_setting_form_function() function in versions 1.0 to 2.2.7. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to overwrite the plugin’s 'register' role setting to make new user registrations default to the administrator role, leading to an elevation of 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 Frontend Dashboard WordPress plugin versions 1.0 to 2.2.7 lack a capability check on the fed_admin_setting_form_function(), allowing authenticated users with Subscriber-level access to modify plugin settings. Attackers can change the default registration role to Administrator, causing newly registered users to automatically gain administrator privileges.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to the latest version which includes proper capability checks on administrative functions. Until then, restrict user registrations or monitor for unauthorized role changes.

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 Frontend Dashboard plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Frontend Dashboard' or check the file /wp-content/plugins/ folder for the frontend-dashboard directory
    Affected if The plugin is present in the WordPress installation
  2. Determine the installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins, find Frontend Dashboard, and note the version number displayed
    Affected if The version falls within 1.0 to 2.2.7 (inclusive)
  3. Check if user registration is enabled
    In WordPress admin, go to Settings > General and look for the 'Membership' setting 'Anyone can register' is checked
    Affected if User registration is enabled on the site
  4. Inspect the default user registration role
    In WordPress admin, go to Settings > General, check the 'Default Role' dropdown for newly registered users. Alternatively, query the wp_options table for 'default_role' option value
    Affected if The default role is set to Administrator or any role with administrative capabilities
  5. Review existing user accounts for unauthorized administrators
    In WordPress admin, go to Users > All Users and examine the list for Administrator accounts you did not create, or query the wp_users and wp_usermeta tables
    Affected if There are administrator accounts that were not intentionally created

A site is affected if the Frontend Dashboard plugin versions 1.0-2.2.7 is installed, user registration is enabled, and the default role is set to Administrator or an admin-level role.

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 the plugin to the latest version which includes proper capability checks on administrative functions. Until then, restrict user registrations or monitor for unauthorized role changes.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Frontend Dashboard plugin version 2.2.8 or later

  1. Log in to WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate the Frontend Dashboard plugin
  4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to version 2.2.8 or later
  5. Alternatively, update via WP-CLI: wp plugin update frontend-dashboard

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,770
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,832.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-4474 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-4474 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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