dbcve.org
Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2025-6754

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
The SEO Metrics plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation due to missing authorization checks in both the seo_metrics_handle_connect_button_click() AJAX handler and the seo_metrics_handle_custom_endpoint() function in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.15. Because the AJAX action only verifies a nonce, without checking the caller’s capabilities, a subscriber-level user can retrieve the token and then access the custom endpoint to obtain full administrator cookies.

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 · high confidence

The SEO Metrics WordPress plugin versions up to 1.0.15 lacks authorization validation in two locations: the seo_metrics_handle_connect_button_click() AJAX handler and the seo_metrics_handle_custom_endpoint() function. Both only verify a nonce token without checking user capabilities, allowing authenticated subscribers to retrieve admin tokens and obtain full administrator session cookies through the custom endpoint.

MitigationApply the latest plugin update which adds proper capability checks (e.g., current_user_can('manage_options')) to both the AJAX handler and custom endpoint function to verify the caller has administrator privileges before granting token access.

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
High
Availability
High

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

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 SEO Metrics plugin is installed
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Plugins and confirm the SEO Metrics plugin is installed and active
    Affected if Plugin is present and active in the WordPress installation
  2. Check installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins, locate SEO Metrics and compare the version number to 1.0.15 (versions 1.0.15 and earlier are affected)
    Affected if Version is 1.0.15 or lower
  3. Inspect AJAX handler for missing capability check
    Access plugin files via FTP or file manager, locate the function seo_metrics_handle_connect_button_click() and verify whether it contains a current_user_can() capability check
    Affected if The AJAX handler only validates nonce without checking user capabilities (current_user_can('manage_options') is missing)
  4. Inspect custom endpoint for missing authorization
    Examine the plugin file containing seo_metrics_handle_custom_endpoint() and check if it verifies user capabilities before returning admin tokens or session cookies
    Affected if The endpoint only checks nonce token without validating current_user_can('manage_options') before granting token access

If SEO Metrics plugin version 1.0.15 or lower is installed AND the AJAX handler and custom endpoint lack current_user_can('manage_options') checks, the environment is affected by CVE-2025-6754

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the latest plugin update which adds proper capability checks (e.g., current_user_can('manage_options')) to both the AJAX handler and custom endpoint function to verify the caller has administrator privileges before granting token access.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Version 1.0.16 or later

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Find the 'SEO Metrics' plugin
  4. Check the current version (should be 1.0.15 or earlier)
  5. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to the latest version
  6. Alternatively, manually download version 1.0.16 or later from wordpress.org/plugins/seo-metrics/
  7. Deactivate the current plugin, delete it, then upload and activate the fixed version
  8. Verify the update was successful by checking the plugin version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2025-6754 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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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