CVE-2025-63041
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 · uneditedContributor Broken Access Control in Forget About Shortcode Buttons <= 2.1.3 versions.
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 confidenceThe Forget About Shortcode Buttons WordPress plugin versions 2.1.3 and below contains a broken access control vulnerability that allows users with Contributor-level privileges to perform actions typically restricted to higher-privileged roles. This is a classic privilege escalation issue where the plugin fails to properly validate user capabilities before executing sensitive operations.
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
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
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 if the plugin is installedCheck the WordPress plugins directory (wp-content/plugins) for a folder named 'forget-about-shortcode-buttons' or similar, or view installed plugins in WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed PluginsAffected if The plugin folder exists in the WordPress installation
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Determine the installed versionOpen the main plugin file (forget-about-shortcode-buttons.php) and locate the Version header in the plugin comment block, or check the version displayed in WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed PluginsAffected if The version is 2.1.3 or lower (any version up to and including 2.1.3)
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Check for Contributor-level usersIn WordPress admin, navigate to Users > All Users and filter or scroll to identify users with the Contributor role, or query the wp_usermeta table for 'wp_capabilities' containing 'contributor'Affected if At least one user with Contributor role exists in the WordPress installation
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Audit Contributor user activityReview WordPress activity logs, audit logs, or the wp_posts and wp_comments tables for posts or content created by Contributor users that may have been published or modified without proper approval, or check if Contributors can access admin pages or features they should not accessAffected if Contributor users have performed actions beyond their intended permissions (publishing, editing published content, accessing admin features)
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Verify capability enforcementAttempt to access or execute plugin functions as a Contributor user (if you have test credentials), or manually inspect the plugin code for missing capability checks (look for functions that should call current_user_can() but do not)Affected if The plugin allows Contributor users to execute functions that require higher privileges (like Administrator or Editor)
You are affected if the Forget About Shortcode Buttons plugin versions 2.1.3 or below is installed AND there are Contributor-level users in your WordPress installation who may have performed privileged actions.
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 the plugin to the latest version immediately. Until an update is available, limit Contributor role permissions and audit existing user accounts with Contributor access.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 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 $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-63041 — 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-2025-63041 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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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