CVE-2025-49401
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 · uneditedIncorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerability in axiomthemes smart SEO smartSEO allows Privilege Escalation.This issue affects smart SEO: from n/a through <= 4.0.
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 · moderate confidenceAn Incorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerability in the smartSEO plugin by axiomthemes allows unprivileged users to escalate their privileges, likely gaining administrative access. The CVSS 9.8 indicates this can be exploited without authentication or with minimal privileges, enabling complete system compromise.
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Verify smartSEO plugin is installedNavigate to WordPress admin panel > Plugins, or check the /wp-content/plugins/ directory for a folder named 'smartseo' or 'axiom-smartseo'Affected if The smartSEO plugin by axiomthemes is present in the WordPress installation
-
Identify the installed smartSEO versionCheck the plugin main file header (usually smartseo.php) for the Version tag, or view the plugin details in WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed PluginsAffected if The installed version is any version of the smartSEO plugin by axiomthemes (no fixed version range provided)
-
Review WordPress user roles for unauthorized privilege escalationNavigate to Users > All Users in WordPress admin, or query the wp_usermeta table for users with administrator capabilities (capability_level = 1 or wp_capabilities containing 'administrator') who should not have admin accessAffected if Any user account exists with administrator role that was not created by an existing administrator or that shows unexpected privilege elevation
-
Audit recent user account modificationsCheck WordPress activity logs, server access logs, or database audit tables for recent INSERT/UPDATE operations on wp_users and wp_usermeta tables, particularly around user creation or role changesAffected if User accounts were created or modified recently without documented admin action
-
Examine plugin configuration filesInspect files in the smartSEO plugin directory for any code that modifies user roles, capabilities, or permissions, particularly any add_role() or add_cap() calls that may assign elevated privilegesAffected if The plugin contains code that improperly assigns administrative capabilities to non-admin users
A user is affected if the smartSEO plugin by axiomthemes is installed and any unprivileged account has gained administrative access or elevated capabilities.
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.
From vendor dataUpdate smartSEO to the latest patched version once available. Until then, restrict administrative access, audit all user accounts for unauthorized privilege escalation, and consider disabling the plugin if immediate remediation is not possible.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-49401 — 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-2025-49401 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