Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2025-58978

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Missing Authorization vulnerability in WP Swings PDF Generator for WordPress pdf-generator-for-wp allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects PDF Generator for WordPress: from n/a through <= 1.5.4.

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

Missing authorization vulnerability in the PDF Generator for WordPress plugin allows unauthenticated or improperly authenticated users to access functionality that should be restricted due to incorrectly configured access control security levels.

MitigationUpdate to the latest version of the plugin when a patch is released. If no patch is available, restrict access to sensitive plugin endpoints at the server level or disable the plugin until a fix is available.

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
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/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. Confirm PDF Generator plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'PDF Generator' or 'PDF Generator for WordPress'. Alternatively, check the wp-content/plugins directory for a folder containing 'pdf-generator' in the name.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and active
  2. Identify installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin, find the PDF Generator plugin in the Plugins list and check the version number displayed beneath the plugin name. Alternatively, inspect the plugin's main PHP file (usually in wp-content/plugins/pdf-generator/ or similar) and look for a 'Version' header in the plugin comment block.
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or is unknown, treat as potentially vulnerable
  3. Test unauthenticated access to plugin endpoints
    Using a tool like curl or a browser, attempt to access common plugin AJAX endpoints (such as wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=pdfgen_... or custom plugin routes) without logging in. Also try accessing any plugin-specific admin pages directly via URL without authentication.
    Affected if Requests are processed without requiring login or returning authentication errors
  4. Check for exposed export or generation functions
    Review if the plugin exposes functions to generate, export, or download PDF files accessible to any visitor to the site. Test by submitting forms or making requests that would generate PDFs while logged out.
    Affected if PDF files are generated or downloaded without authentication required
  5. Verify access control configuration
    Inspect the plugin settings in WordPress admin under the plugin's configuration page. Look for any permission, capability, or access control settings that may be misconfigured to allow all users or 'guest' users access.
    Affected if Plugin has settings allowing 'guest', 'any', or 'logged-out' users to access restricted features

If the PDF Generator plugin is installed and its endpoints or features are accessible without authentication or proper capability checks, the environment is affected by this authorization bypass 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

Update to the latest version of the plugin when a patch is released. If no patch is available, restrict access to sensitive plugin endpoints at the server level or disable the plugin until a fix is available.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get help mitigating

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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-58978 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-58978 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