CVE-2025-15096: WordPress Videospirecore Privilege Escalation

CVE-2025-15096 Overview

The Videospirecore Theme Plugin for WordPress contains a privilege escalation vulnerability that allows authenticated attackers to take over arbitrary user accounts, including administrator accounts. The vulnerability exists in all versions up to and including 1.0.6 and stems from improper validation of user identity before updating account details such as email addresses.

This vulnerability enables attackers with minimal access (Subscriber-level) to modify any user's email address, including administrators. Once the email is changed, the attacker can trigger a password reset, receive the reset link at their controlled email address, and gain full access to the compromised account.

Critical Impact

Attackers with low-privilege Subscriber access can escalate to full administrator privileges by hijacking admin accounts through email modification and password reset abuse.

Affected Products

• Videospirecore Theme Plugin for WordPress versions up to and including 1.0.6
• WordPress sites utilizing the VideSpire video streaming/OTT platform theme
• All WordPress user accounts on affected installations

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-11 - CVE-2025-15096 published to NVD
• 2026-02-11 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-15096

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key), which occurs when the application uses user-supplied input to determine which data or resources to access without proper authorization checks. In this case, the Videospirecore Theme Plugin fails to verify that the authenticated user has permission to modify the account details of the targeted user.

The attack surface is network-accessible and requires only basic authentication (Subscriber-level account). No user interaction is needed from the victim, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in multi-user WordPress environments. The vulnerability enables complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability for affected user accounts.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is improper authorization validation in the user profile update functionality. The plugin accepts user-provided parameters to identify which account to modify but does not verify that the requesting user has the authority to make changes to that specific account. This Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) pattern allows any authenticated user to reference and modify other users' account details.

Specifically, the plugin likely accepts a user identifier (such as user ID or username) as a parameter when processing email update requests, but fails to cross-reference this with the currently authenticated session to ensure the requester is authorized to modify that particular account.

Attack Vector

The attack follows a predictable privilege escalation pattern:

1. The attacker creates or obtains access to a low-privilege WordPress account (Subscriber level is sufficient)
2. The attacker identifies the target account, typically an administrator
3. Using the vulnerable email update functionality, the attacker modifies the target account's email address to one they control
4. The attacker initiates a password reset for the target account
5. The password reset link is sent to the attacker-controlled email address
6. The attacker uses the reset link to set a new password and gains full access to the target account

This attack chain requires no special tools or exploit code—only knowledge of the vulnerable endpoint and a valid low-privilege account. For detailed technical information, refer to the Wordfence Vulnerability Intelligence report.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-15096

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected email address changes for user accounts, particularly administrator accounts
• Password reset requests for accounts that did not initiate them
• Multiple email change events originating from accounts with Subscriber or low-privilege roles
• Login activity from new IP addresses or geolocations following email/password changes
• Audit log entries showing profile modifications performed by users other than the account owner

Detection Strategies

• Enable WordPress audit logging to track all user profile modifications with source user identification
• Monitor for email address changes on administrator and high-privilege accounts
• Implement alerting on password reset requests that follow recent email address changes
• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious profile update requests
• Review access logs for patterns indicating enumeration of user IDs or automated profile modification attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure real-time alerts for any changes to administrator account email addresses
• Implement baseline monitoring of user profile modification frequency to detect anomalous activity
• Enable email notifications to original email addresses when account details are changed
• Deploy SentinelOne Singularity XDR to monitor for post-exploitation activities following account takeover
• Establish logging correlation between authentication events and profile modification requests

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-15096

Immediate Actions Required

• Immediately update the Videospirecore Theme Plugin to a patched version if available
• Audit all user accounts, especially administrators, for unauthorized email address changes
• Force password resets for any accounts with suspicious modification history
• Consider temporarily disabling the Videospirecore Theme Plugin until a patch is applied
• Review and restrict user registration if not required for site functionality

Patch Information

At the time of publication, organizations should check for updates from the plugin vendor. Monitor the ThemeForest product page and the Wordfence Vulnerability Intelligence database for patch availability and update announcements. Update to the latest version as soon as a security patch is released.

Workarounds

• Restrict user registration to prevent attackers from easily obtaining authenticated access
• Implement additional access controls at the web server or WAF level to restrict access to user profile update endpoints
• Use a WordPress security plugin to monitor and restrict profile modification capabilities based on user roles
• Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on all administrator accounts to mitigate the impact of account takeover
• Consider implementing email change confirmation workflows that require verification from the original email address

# WordPress configuration hardening - add to wp-config.php
# Disable user registration if not needed
define('WP_DISABLE_ADMIN_EMAIL_VERIFICATION', false);

# Ensure proper authentication constants are set
define('FORCE_SSL_ADMIN', true);
define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true);