Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2026-25338

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-19
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 Ays Pro AI ChatBot with ChatGPT and Content Generator by AYS ays-chatgpt-assistant allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects AI ChatBot with ChatGPT and Content Generator by AYS: from n/a through <= 2.7.4.

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 the AYS WordPress plugin allows unauthorized users to access functionality or data due to incorrectly configured access control security levels. The vulnerability has a CVSS 5.3 indicating low complexity exploitation with no privileges required.

MitigationUpdate to the latest version of the plugin once available, or implement proper authorization checks (capability/permission verification) at all sensitive endpoints and functions within 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
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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. Identify AYS plugin installation and version
    Navigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins > Installed Plugins. Locate 'AYS' (or 'Ask You Something') plugin and note the installed version number.
    Affected if AYS plugin is installed and version is unknown or falls within a vulnerable range before the fix was released.
  2. Verify access control configuration
    In WordPress admin, go to AYS plugin settings. Check security/access control settings, user role permissions, or any 'Access Level' / 'Security Level' configuration options.
    Affected if Plugin settings show incorrectly configured access control where lower-privileged users can access higher-privilege functions or data.
  3. Test sensitive endpoints for authorization
    Use a low-privilege user account (e.g., Subscriber) to access plugin functions like admin pages, data export, user data access, or settings modification via direct URL access or API calls.
    Affected if Low-privilege or unauthenticated users can access plugin functions or data that should require administrator capabilities.
  4. Review capability checks in plugin code
    If plugin code is accessible, inspect PHP files for missing current_user_can() or capability verification checks before sensitive operations.
    Affected if Plugin code lacks proper WordPress capability checks (current_user_can) before executing sensitive functions.

User is affected if AYS WordPress plugin is installed with a version lacking proper authorization controls, and the plugin's access control security levels are incorrectly configured allowing unauthorized 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

Update to the latest version of the plugin once available, or implement proper authorization checks (capability/permission verification) at all sensitive endpoints and functions within the plugin.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-25338 — 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-2026-25338 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