Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2025-66120

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-12-16
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 CatFolders CatFolders catfolders allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects CatFolders: from n/a through <= 2.5.3.

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 CatFolders WordPress plugin allows exploitation of incorrectly configured access control security levels, potentially enabling unauthorized users to access or manipulate folder management functionality they should not have permission to access.

MitigationImplement proper role-based authorization checks across all sensitive plugin endpoints and functions to verify user capabilities before allowing folder create, read, update, or delete 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
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. Verify CatFolders plugin is installed
    Navigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'CatFolders' in the list. Alternatively, check the /wp-content/plugins/catfolders directory exists.
    Affected if CatFolders plugin is active on the WordPress site
  2. Identify the installed CatFolders version
    In the Plugins list, find CatFolders and view the version number under the plugin name. Or check the main plugin file (e.g., catfolders.php) for the 'Version' header comment.
    Affected if Version is unknown or matches any version where the authorization flaw exists (check vendor advisory for specific affected versions)
  3. Test folder access with low-privilege user accounts
    Create or use a WordPress user account with Subscriber or Contributor role (limited capabilities). Attempt to access CatFolders functionality via direct URL or by observing if folder management UI elements appear for that user.
    Affected if A user without administrator role can view, create, edit, or delete folders through the plugin interface or API endpoints
  4. Inspect plugin capability settings
    Go to CatFolders settings page (if available) and review any options related to user roles, capabilities, or access control. Check WordPress roles under Users > Roles to see if custom CatFolders capabilities were added to lower-privileged roles.
    Affected if Non-administrator roles have been granted folder management capabilities (e.g., catfolders_manage, catfolders_create, catfolders_delete)
  5. Check for direct API endpoint access
    Use a browser developer tool or curl to send requests to CatFolders AJAX endpoints (typically /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=catfolders_*) while logged in as a non-administrator user. Observe if the requests succeed without returning authorization errors.
    Affected if AJAX or REST API endpoints respond successfully to requests from users lacking administrator privileges

A site is affected if the CatFolders plugin is active and non-administrator users can access or manipulate folder functionality they should not be permitted to access.

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 authorization checks across all sensitive plugin endpoints and functions to verify user capabilities before allowing folder create, read, update, or delete operations.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-66120 — 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-2025-66120 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