dbcve.org
Incorrect AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-863

CVE-2025-9376

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-28
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 Block Bad Bots and Stop Bad Bots Crawlers and Spiders and Anti Spam Protection plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access of data due to an insufficient capability check on the 'stopbadbots_check_wordpress_logged_in_cookie' function in all versions up to, and including, 11.58. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to bypass blocklists, rate limits, and other plugin functionality.

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

The WordPress plugin 'Block Bad Bots and Stop Bad Bots Crawlers and Spiders and Anti Spam Protection' has an insecure direct object reference or broken access control vulnerability. The function 'stopbadbots_check_wordpress_logged_in_cookie' lacks proper WordPress capability checks, allowing unauthenticated attackers to bypass blocklists, rate limits, and other security controls implemented by the plugin.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to the latest version once available, which should include proper capability checks on the affected function. If no update is available, restrict access to the vulnerable function or temporarily disable the plugin.

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
Low

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

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify the plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Block Bad Bots and Stop Bad Bots Crawlers and Spiders and Anti Spam Protection' or search for 'stopbadbots' in the plugins directory
    Affected if The plugin appears in the installed plugins list
  2. Identify the installed plugin version
    Click on the plugin in the WordPress plugins list to view its details, or check the main plugin file header for the Version field
    Affected if Any version is installed since no specific safe version range was provided
  3. Confirm the vulnerable function exists
    Inspect the plugin files (typically in wp-content/plugins/stopbadbots/) and locate the function 'stopbadbots_check_wordpress_logged_in_cookie' in the source code
    Affected if The function exists in the plugin files without capability checks
  4. Test for authentication bypass
    Make an unauthenticated HTTP request to a protected page or API endpoint that should be blocked by the plugin's blocklist or rate limiting, then verify if the request is not blocked as expected
    Affected if Unauthenticated requests bypass the plugin's security controls (blocklists, rate limits)
  5. Review function capability checks
    Examine the source code of the affected function to verify if it includes current_user_can() or similar WordPress capability validation before performing security-critical operations
    Affected if No capability check (like current_user_can) is present at the beginning of the function

If the plugin is installed and the vulnerable function lacks capability checks, the environment is affected by this authentication 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.

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

Update the plugin to the latest version once available, which should include proper capability checks on the affected function. If no update is available, restrict access to the vulnerable function or temporarily disable the plugin.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Plugin version 11.59 or later (check WordPress plugin repository for latest release)

  1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate 'Block Bad Bots and Stop Bad Bots Crawlers and Spiders and Anti Spam Protection'
  4. Check if an update is available and install it
  5. Verify the plugin version is updated to a version newer than 11.58

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-9376 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data