CVE-2025-53986
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 · uneditedMissing Authorization vulnerability in themeisle Hestia hestia allows Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs.This issue affects Hestia: from n/a through <= 3.2.10.
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 confidenceThis is a missing authorization (Broken Access Control) vulnerability in the Hestia WordPress theme. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated or unauthorized users to access functionality that should be restricted by Access Control Lists (ACLs). Without proper authorization checks, certain theme functions or features can be invoked by users who lack the required permissions.
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
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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.
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Identify the installed Hestia theme versionAccess the WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Themes, and locate the Hestia theme to view its version information. Alternatively, check the style.css file in the theme directory for the 'Version' header.Affected if The displayed version is lower than 3.2.11, indicating the theme lacks the authorization fix.
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Verify WordPress user roles and permissionsReview the WordPress user roles (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) and confirm which roles have access to theme-specific functionality. Check if any theme features are accessible without proper capability checks.Affected if Users with lower-privileged roles (such as Subscriber or Contributor) can access functionality that should be restricted to Administrators or Editors.
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Inspect theme AJAX endpoints and API routesExamine the theme's PHP files for AJAX handlers (wp_ajax_*) and REST API routes that may lack current_user_can() or capability checks. Look for functions that process sensitive operations without authorization verification.Affected if Theme functions can be invoked by unauthenticated users or by users lacking the required capabilities.
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Review theme options and settings accessCheck if theme customizer options, settings pages, or plugin-like features (such as content import/export, theme-specific shortcodes, or layout controls) verify user permissions before allowing changes.Affected if Settings pages or configuration options are accessible and modifiable by users who should not have access based on WordPress role capabilities.
A user is affected if the installed Hestia theme version is below 3.2.11 and the theme exposes functionality that can be accessed by unauthorized users or roles.
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 Hestia theme to the latest version (3.2.11 or later) which contains the authorization fix. If update is not possible immediately, audit theme functionality for unprotected endpoints and implement proper capability checks using WordPress user roles and permissions.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $2,560.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-53986 — 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-2025-53986 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
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- 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
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