CVE-2025-22779: WP News Sliders Authorization Bypass

CVE-2025-22779 Overview

CVE-2025-22779 is a missing authorization vulnerability in the codeaffairs WP News Sliders WordPress plugin. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 1.0. Attackers with low-privileged authenticated access can exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels to perform actions reserved for higher-privileged users. The weakness is classified under [CWE-862] Missing Authorization. The issue was published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) on January 15, 2025.

Critical Impact
Authenticated users with minimal privileges can bypass access control checks and interact with plugin functionality that should require elevated permissions, resulting in limited integrity impact on affected WordPress sites.

Affected Products

codeaffairs WP News Sliders WordPress plugin
All versions from n/a through 1.0
WordPress sites with the wp-news-sliders plugin installed and activated

Discovery Timeline

2025-01-15 - CVE-2025-22779 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-22779

Vulnerability Analysis

The WP News Sliders plugin exposes functionality without properly verifying whether the requesting user holds the correct capabilities. WordPress plugins typically enforce authorization using current_user_can() capability checks and nonce verification via check_ajax_referer() or wp_verify_nonce(). In vulnerable versions of wp-news-sliders, one or more handlers omit or misconfigure these checks.

An authenticated attacker holding a low-privileged role such as Subscriber can invoke restricted plugin actions. Because the vulnerability requires authentication and yields only limited integrity impact, it does not enable direct code execution or data exfiltration. However, it can be chained with other weaknesses to modify slider content, alter plugin configuration, or seed stored payloads that affect site visitors.

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence of a proper capability check on plugin endpoints. Under [CWE-862], the code assumes any authenticated request is authorized, without validating the user's role or intent. This is a common pattern in WordPress plugins that expose AJAX handlers or admin-post actions without gating them behind current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) or an equivalent capability.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and requires low privileges but no user interaction. An attacker authenticates to the target WordPress site as any registered user, then issues a crafted HTTP request to the vulnerable plugin endpoint. Because the handler does not enforce authorization, the request executes with the privileges of the underlying action rather than the user's assigned role. Refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for endpoint-specific technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-22779

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected modifications to WP News Sliders configuration or slider content in the WordPress database.
Access log entries showing low-privileged accounts issuing POST requests to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php or wp-admin/admin-post.php with action parameters tied to the wp-news-sliders plugin.
New or modified slider entries created by user accounts that lack editorial capabilities.

Detection Strategies

Audit WordPress access logs for authenticated requests to plugin-specific AJAX actions originating from Subscriber-level accounts.
Review the wp_options table and plugin-specific tables for unauthorized changes to slider content or configuration.
Correlate WordPress user role assignments with the actions each user performs against plugin endpoints.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable WordPress activity logging to record capability-sensitive actions and identify anomalies tied to the plugin.
Monitor for spikes in low-privileged authenticated traffic to admin-ajax.php targeting the wp-news-sliders plugin.
Alert on creation of new user accounts followed shortly by requests to plugin management endpoints.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-22779

Immediate Actions Required

Deactivate and remove the WP News Sliders plugin if no patched version is available for your installation.
Restrict user registration on affected WordPress sites to reduce the pool of low-privileged accounts that could exploit the flaw.
Review existing user accounts and remove or downgrade any that are not required for site operation.

Patch Information

At the time of publication, no fixed version is listed in the referenced advisory beyond the affected range of "n/a through 1.0." Site owners should consult the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for the latest remediation status and apply any vendor-supplied update as soon as it becomes available.

Workarounds

Use a WordPress Web Application Firewall (WAF) to block unauthenticated and low-privileged requests to the affected plugin's AJAX and admin-post actions.
Enforce strong authentication controls, including multi-factor authentication, for all WordPress user accounts.
Disable the plugin until a patched release is verified, and consider replacing it with an actively maintained alternative.

bash

# Configuration example: disable the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate wp-news-sliders
wp plugin delete wp-news-sliders