Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2025-54714

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Missing Authorization vulnerability in Dylan James Zephyr Project Manager zephyr-project-manager allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects Zephyr Project Manager: from n/a through <= 3.3.201.

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 confidence

The Zephyr Project Manager plugin for WordPress contains a missing authorization vulnerability that allows attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels. This enables unauthorized access to functionality or data that should require proper authentication and authorization checks.

MitigationImplement proper role-based access control (RBAC) and authorization checks on all sensitive functions and endpoints within the plugin, ensuring that user permissions are validated before granting access to protected resources.

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
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Zephyr Project Manager plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Zephyr Project Manager' or check the plugin files in wp-content/plugins/ for the Zephyr Project Manager directory
    Affected if The plugin is installed and active in WordPress
  2. Identify the installed plugin version
    Check the plugin header in the main PHP file (usually zephyr-project-manager.php) for the 'Version' field, or view the plugin details in the WordPress plugins page
    Affected if The version cannot be determined or falls within an affected version range (compare to any official vulnerability advisory)
  3. Test access to admin functionality without authentication
    Attempt to access plugin-specific URLs or AJAX endpoints directly via curl or browser (e.g., wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=zephyr_*) without logging in or with a low-privilege user account
    Affected if Sensitive data or admin functions are returned without requiring proper authentication
  4. Verify role-based access control settings
    Check plugin settings for any 'Access Control', 'Security Level', or permission-related options. Inspect if the plugin allows configuring which user roles can access project data, tasks, or files
    Affected if Access control settings are missing, set to 'None', or allow unrestricted access to all users including unauthenticated users
  5. Inspect API endpoints for authorization
    Use browser dev tools or a tool like Burp Suite to capture plugin-related requests. Examine if endpoints handling project data, user data, or file uploads validate user capabilities before returning content
    Affected if Endpoints return sensitive information or allow actions without verifying user permissions

If the Zephyr Project Manager plugin is active and its access control is misconfigured or improperly enforced, the environment is affected by this missing authorization vulnerability.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement proper role-based access control (RBAC) and authorization checks on all sensitive functions and endpoints within the plugin, ensuring that user permissions are validated before granting access to protected resources.

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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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

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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-2025-54714 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
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