CVE-2025-15473: Timetics WordPress Auth Bypass Flaw

CVE-2025-15473 Overview

CVE-2025-15473 is an authorization bypass vulnerability in the Timetics WordPress plugin versions prior to 1.0.52. The vulnerability stems from a missing authorization check in a REST API endpoint, which allows unauthenticated attackers to arbitrarily modify booking payment status and post status for the timetics-booking custom post type. This broken access control issue could enable attackers to manipulate booking records without any authentication.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can manipulate booking payment and post statuses, potentially leading to financial fraud, service disruption, and data integrity issues for WordPress sites using the Timetics booking plugin.

Affected Products

• Timetics WordPress Plugin versions before 1.0.52

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-12 - CVE CVE-2025-15473 published to NVD
• 2026-03-12 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-15473

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-862 (Missing Authorization), a broken access control flaw where the application fails to verify that a user has the required permissions before allowing them to perform a sensitive action. In this case, the Timetics plugin exposes a REST API endpoint that handles booking management operations without implementing proper authorization checks.

The vulnerable endpoint allows any user—including completely unauthenticated visitors—to submit requests that modify the payment status and post status of booking records. This represents a significant security gap in the plugin's access control model, as booking management operations should typically be restricted to authenticated administrators or authorized users.

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence of capability checks or nonce verification on the affected REST endpoint. WordPress plugins that register custom REST API routes are responsible for implementing their own permission callbacks to ensure only authorized users can access sensitive functionality. The Timetics plugin failed to implement these authorization controls on the booking status modification endpoint, leaving it accessible to anyone who can craft an appropriate HTTP request.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires no authentication. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTP requests directly to the vulnerable REST API endpoint. The attack requires some user interaction (such as the attacker identifying a valid booking ID), but once a target is identified, the attacker can:

1. Enumerate or guess booking IDs associated with the timetics-booking custom post type
2. Send unauthorized REST API requests to modify payment statuses (e.g., marking unpaid bookings as paid)
3. Change post statuses of booking records, potentially hiding or unpublishing legitimate bookings

The exploitation does not require sophisticated tools—standard HTTP clients or browser developer tools would suffice to craft and send the malicious requests to the vulnerable endpoint.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-15473

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected changes to booking payment statuses without corresponding administrative actions
• Booking records with modified post statuses that do not correlate with logged user activity
• Unusual REST API traffic to Timetics plugin endpoints from unauthenticated sources
• Discrepancies between payment gateway records and booking status in WordPress

Detection Strategies

• Monitor WordPress REST API access logs for requests to Timetics booking endpoints from non-authenticated sessions
• Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and alert on unauthorized access patterns to the timetics-booking REST routes
• Enable WordPress audit logging to track changes to booking custom post types and flag modifications without associated user sessions
• Review server access logs for repeated requests to booking management endpoints from suspicious IP addresses

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure real-time alerting for any booking status changes that occur outside of authenticated admin sessions
• Implement integrity monitoring for the timetics-booking custom post type database records
• Deploy SentinelOne Singularity for endpoint monitoring to detect malicious activity patterns associated with web application exploitation

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-15473

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the Timetics WordPress plugin to version 1.0.52 or later immediately
• Review existing booking records for unauthorized modifications to payment or post statuses
• Temporarily disable the Timetics plugin if immediate patching is not possible
• Implement WAF rules to restrict access to Timetics REST API endpoints to authenticated users only

Patch Information

The vulnerability has been addressed in Timetics plugin version 1.0.52. Site administrators should update to this version or later through the WordPress plugin management interface. For detailed information about the vulnerability and patch, refer to the WPScan Vulnerability Report.

Workarounds

• Implement server-level access controls (such as .htaccess rules or nginx configuration) to restrict access to the WordPress REST API from untrusted sources
• Use a security plugin with REST API access controls to limit endpoint exposure to authenticated users
• Deploy a web application firewall with rules specifically targeting unauthorized booking status modification attempts
• Consider temporarily disabling REST API access to the Timetics plugin until the patch can be applied

# Example .htaccess rule to restrict REST API access (Apache)
# Add to WordPress root .htaccess file
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/wp-json/timetics/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Authorization} ^$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ - [F,L]
</IfModule>