CVE-2025-23778: ActiveCampaign User Sync Auth Bypass Flaw

CVE-2025-23778 Overview

CVE-2025-23778 is a missing authorization vulnerability in the Pravin Durugkar User Sync ActiveCampaign plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects the registered-user-sync-activecampaign plugin in all versions up to and including 1.3.2. The plugin fails to enforce proper access control checks, allowing authenticated users with low privileges to invoke functionality that should be restricted. The issue is categorized under [CWE-862] Missing Authorization and results in limited impact to integrity and availability of the affected WordPress site.

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers with low-level privileges can exploit incorrectly configured access controls in the plugin to trigger actions outside their authorization scope.

Affected Products

Pravin Durugkar User Sync ActiveCampaign plugin for WordPress
All versions from n/a through 1.3.2
WordPress sites with the registered-user-sync-activecampaign plugin installed and active

Discovery Timeline

2025-01-16 - CVE-2025-23778 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-23778

Vulnerability Analysis

The User Sync ActiveCampaign plugin synchronizes registered WordPress users with an ActiveCampaign marketing account. The vulnerability stems from missing authorization checks on plugin actions that should require elevated privileges. An authenticated user with low privileges, such as a subscriber, can invoke these actions over the network without user interaction.

The attack surface is limited to functionality exposed by the plugin. The impact scope covers partial integrity and availability changes on the WordPress site. Confidentiality is not affected based on the reported vector.

Root Cause

The root cause is a failure to validate the caller's role or capability before executing sensitive plugin logic. WordPress plugins typically enforce authorization using current_user_can() capability checks or nonce validation on AJAX and admin-post handlers. The affected handlers in versions <= 1.3.2 do not enforce these checks, satisfying [CWE-862] Missing Authorization.

Attack Vector

An attacker authenticated to the target WordPress site with any low-privilege account can send crafted requests to the vulnerable plugin endpoints. Because no capability check gates the request, the plugin performs actions the caller should not be authorized to run. See the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for the technical write-up.

No public proof-of-concept exploit is currently available for this vulnerability. No known exploitation in the wild has been reported.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-23778

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected requests to plugin action endpoints such as admin-ajax.php or admin-post.php referencing registered-user-sync-activecampaign actions from low-privileged sessions.
Unauthorized user synchronization activity to the connected ActiveCampaign account without corresponding administrator action.
New or modified plugin option values in wp_options related to the plugin without an audit trail.

Detection Strategies

Review WordPress access logs for HTTP POST requests to plugin action handlers originating from subscriber-level session cookies.
Correlate WordPress user role with the action being invoked to flag capability mismatches.
Compare the installed plugin version against 1.3.2 and flag any host running an affected release.

Monitoring Recommendations

Ingest WordPress and web server logs into a centralized analytics platform and alert on plugin action endpoints called by non-administrator users.
Monitor ActiveCampaign API sync events for volume anomalies that could indicate abuse of the plugin.
Track file integrity on the plugin directory to detect tampering following exploitation attempts.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-23778

Immediate Actions Required

Update the User Sync ActiveCampaign plugin to a version later than 1.3.2 once the vendor releases a fixed build.
If no patched version is available, deactivate and remove the plugin until a fix is published.
Audit WordPress user accounts and remove unused low-privilege accounts that could be leveraged as an authenticated foothold.

Patch Information

At the time of publication, the Patchstack advisory lists affected versions through 1.3.2. Administrators should monitor the plugin repository for an updated release that adds capability checks and nonce validation to the affected handlers.

Workarounds

Restrict access to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php and /wp-admin/admin-post.php at the web application firewall by blocking plugin-specific action parameters from non-administrator sessions.
Enforce strong authentication and disable open user registration to reduce the pool of low-privilege accounts available to attackers.
Apply least-privilege review across WordPress roles and remove capabilities that are not required for daily operations.

bash

# Example: disable the plugin via WP-CLI until a patched version is available
wp plugin deactivate registered-user-sync-activecampaign
wp plugin delete registered-user-sync-activecampaign