dbcve.org
Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2025-8268

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-03
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
74/100
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
The AI Engine plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access and loss of data due to a missing capability check on the rest_list and delete_files functions in all versions up to, and including, 2.9.5. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to list and delete files uploaded by other users.

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 AI Engine WordPress plugin has two REST API endpoints (rest_list and delete_files) that lack authorization checks, allowing any unauthenticated user to list and delete files uploaded by other users. This is a classic broken access control (CWE-862) vulnerability where capability verification was omitted from the REST route handlers.

MitigationUpdate the AI Engine plugin to version 2.9.6 or later which includes proper capability checks on the affected REST endpoints. If immediate update is not possible, consider disabling the plugin or implementing firewall rules to restrict access to the vulnerable endpoints.

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
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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. Confirm AI Engine plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'AI Engine' in the list, or check the /wp-content/plugins/mai-engine/ directory exists
    Affected if The plugin is present in the WordPress installation
  2. Identify the installed version number
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins, find AI Engine, and note the version number displayed. Alternatively, check the plugin header in /wp-content/plugins/mai-engine/ai-engine.php for 'Version:' field
    Affected if The version is below 2.9.6 (versions 2.9.5 and earlier are affected)
  3. Verify REST API endpoint accessibility
    Send a GET request to /wp-json/ai-engine/v1/list and /wp-json/ai-engine/v1/delete using a tool like curl or Burp without providing any authentication cookies or credentials
    Affected if The endpoints return a successful response (200 OK) instead of a 401 Unauthorized or 403 Forbidden error, indicating lack of authorization checks
  4. Check for file listing capability exposure
    Send an unauthenticated request to the list endpoint (such as /wp-json/ai-engine/v1/list?user_id=1) and observe if it returns file information belonging to other users
    Affected if The response contains file listings or metadata for users other than the requester, confirming the broken access control
  5. Test file deletion capability exposure
    Send an unauthenticated DELETE request to the delete_files endpoint (such as /wp-json/ai-engine/v1/delete) with a file path parameter to attempt deletion of another user's file
    Affected if The file is deleted or the endpoint processes the request without returning an authorization error, confirming the vulnerability

A WordPress site is affected if it has AI Engine plugin installed with version 2.9.5 or earlier AND the vulnerable REST endpoints respond to unauthenticated requests without proper capability verification.

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 the AI Engine plugin to version 2.9.6 or later which includes proper capability checks on the affected REST endpoints. If immediate update is not possible, consider disabling the plugin or implementing firewall rules to restrict access to the vulnerable endpoints.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-8268 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-8268 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