CVE-2025-24697: Image Gallery Plugin Auth Bypass Flaw

CVE-2025-24697 Overview

CVE-2025-24697 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability [CWE-862] in the Realwebcare Image Gallery – Responsive Photo Gallery plugin for WordPress, tracked as awesome-responsive-photo-gallery. The flaw affects all versions from n/a through 1.0.5. Attackers can exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels to interact with plugin functionality that should be restricted to authorized users. The vulnerability is network-exploitable, requires no user interaction, and does not require prior authentication. Successful exploitation impacts integrity and availability of the affected WordPress site.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated network-based attackers can invoke restricted plugin actions due to broken access control, enabling unauthorized modification of gallery data on affected WordPress sites.

Affected Products

• Realwebcare Image Gallery – Responsive Photo Gallery (awesome-responsive-photo-gallery) versions up to and including 1.0.5
• WordPress installations with the vulnerable plugin activated
• Sites exposing the plugin's AJAX or admin-post endpoints to unauthenticated visitors

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-02-03 - CVE-2025-24697 published to NVD
• 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-24697

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from missing authorization checks in the Image Gallery – Responsive Photo Gallery plugin. WordPress plugins commonly expose backend actions through admin-ajax.php or admin-post.php handlers. These handlers must validate the requester's capabilities using functions such as current_user_can() and verify request authenticity using nonces via check_ajax_referer() or wp_verify_nonce(). When these controls are omitted or misconfigured, plugin actions become accessible to users who lack the required privilege level.

In this case, one or more plugin endpoints operate without enforcing capability checks. An attacker can send crafted HTTP requests directly to the vulnerable endpoint and trigger privileged operations. The impact is limited to integrity and availability rather than confidentiality, indicating the affected actions modify or delete gallery-related data rather than expose sensitive information.

Root Cause

The root cause is a Broken Access Control weakness classified under [CWE-862]. The plugin registers action hooks that execute privileged operations but fails to validate whether the calling user holds the appropriate capability. The absence of authorization gates allows any HTTP client, including unauthenticated visitors, to invoke functionality intended only for administrators or editors.

Attack Vector

An attacker sends an HTTP POST request to the WordPress AJAX or admin-post endpoint, supplying the plugin's action name and required parameters. Because the handler skips capability validation, the server processes the request as if it originated from an authorized user. Exploitation requires only network access to the target site. No credentials, user interaction, or social engineering are required.

No verified public exploit code is available at this time. Refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for further technical detail.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-24697

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected modifications to gallery posts, images, or plugin settings within the WordPress database
• HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php referencing plugin-specific action names from unauthenticated sources
• Access log entries showing repeated requests to plugin endpoints from a single IP without an authenticated session cookie

Detection Strategies

• Inspect web server access logs for requests to admin-ajax.php or admin-post.php that lack a valid wordpress_logged_in_* cookie yet target plugin actions
• Compare plugin data tables and uploaded media against known-good baselines to identify unauthorized changes
• Enable WordPress audit logging plugins to record administrative actions and correlate them with authenticated user sessions

Monitoring Recommendations

• Alert on anomalous POST request volumes to WordPress AJAX endpoints originating from single IP addresses
• Monitor plugin file integrity and gallery database tables for changes outside of scheduled administrative windows
• Forward WordPress and web server logs to a centralized log analytics platform for correlation and long-term retention

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-24697

Immediate Actions Required

• Deactivate the Image Gallery – Responsive Photo Gallery plugin until a patched version is installed
• Restrict access to /wp-admin/ and AJAX endpoints via IP allowlisting or a web application firewall rule
• Audit user accounts and gallery data for unauthorized modifications made prior to remediation

Patch Information

As of the last NVD update on 2026-06-17, no fixed version beyond 1.0.5 is identified in the available advisory data. Site administrators should consult the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for the latest vendor response and remediation guidance.

Workarounds

• Remove the plugin entirely if a patched release is unavailable and the gallery functionality is not essential
• Deploy a web application firewall rule blocking unauthenticated requests to the plugin's action names in admin-ajax.php
• Enforce authentication in front of /wp-admin/ using HTTP basic auth or a reverse proxy access policy

# Example nginx rule to block unauthenticated access to admin-ajax.php actions used by the plugin
location = /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php {
    if ($arg_action ~* "^(arpg_|awesome_responsive_photo_gallery_)") {
        # Require a valid wordpress_logged_in cookie
        if ($http_cookie !~* "wordpress_logged_in_") {
            return 403;
        }
    }
    include fastcgi_params;
    fastcgi_pass php-fpm;
}