CVE-2025-25167: BookPress Authorization Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-25167 Overview

CVE-2025-25167 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability discovered in the BookPress – For Book Authors WordPress plugin developed by blackandwhitedigital. This broken access control flaw allows attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels, potentially gaining unauthorized access to protected functionality within affected WordPress installations.

Critical Impact

This vulnerability enables unauthenticated attackers to bypass authorization checks and access restricted plugin functionality, potentially leading to complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected WordPress site.

Affected Products

• blackandwhitedigital BookPress – For Book Authors plugin versions through 1.2.7
• WordPress installations running vulnerable BookPress versions

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-02-07 - CVE-2025-25167 published to NVD
• 2025-02-11 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-25167

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from a Missing Authorization weakness (CWE-862) in the BookPress plugin for WordPress. The plugin fails to properly verify user permissions before allowing access to certain administrative or privileged functions. When authorization checks are absent or improperly implemented, attackers can directly invoke protected endpoints or functionality without possessing the required credentials or role assignments.

The network-based attack vector requires no user interaction and can be exploited by completely unauthenticated attackers, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous for publicly accessible WordPress sites running the affected plugin.

Root Cause

The root cause is classified under CWE-862 (Missing Authorization). The BookPress plugin fails to implement proper capability checks or nonce verification on one or more sensitive operations. In WordPress plugins, this typically occurs when developers neglect to use functions like current_user_can() or wp_verify_nonce() to validate that the requesting user has appropriate permissions before executing privileged actions.

Attack Vector

Attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network without requiring any authentication or user interaction. The exploitation flow involves identifying unprotected AJAX actions, REST API endpoints, or form handlers within the BookPress plugin and directly invoking these endpoints with crafted requests. Since no authorization is enforced, the plugin processes these malicious requests as if they originated from a legitimate privileged user.

Without verified code examples available, the vulnerability mechanism typically manifests through unprotected WordPress AJAX handlers or REST API endpoints that lack proper permission callbacks. For detailed technical analysis, refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-25167

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected modifications to BookPress plugin settings or book content without corresponding administrator activity
• Unusual HTTP requests to BookPress-specific AJAX endpoints from unauthenticated sources
• Web server access logs showing repeated requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with BookPress action parameters from external IP addresses
• Database changes to BookPress-related tables without legitimate user sessions

Detection Strategies

• Monitor WordPress AJAX request logs for unauthenticated requests targeting BookPress action handlers
• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious parameter patterns in requests to WordPress admin endpoints
• Review WordPress debug logs for permission-related errors or unexpected plugin behavior
• Deploy endpoint detection solutions to monitor for post-exploitation activities following successful access control bypasses

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable WordPress debug logging temporarily to capture detailed request information during security assessments
• Configure SIEM alerts for high volumes of requests to BookPress plugin endpoints from single IP addresses
• Implement real-time monitoring of WordPress database tables associated with the BookPress plugin for unauthorized modifications

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-25167

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the BookPress – For Book Authors plugin to a version newer than 1.2.7 if a patched version is available from the vendor
• If no patch is available, consider temporarily disabling the BookPress plugin until a security update is released
• Review WordPress user accounts and permissions for any unauthorized changes that may indicate prior exploitation
• Audit WordPress database for suspicious content modifications in BookPress-related tables

Patch Information

Organizations should monitor the official WordPress plugin repository and blackandwhitedigital vendor channels for security updates addressing this vulnerability. The Patchstack Vulnerability Report provides additional details on the affected versions and remediation guidance.

Workarounds

• Implement Web Application Firewall rules to restrict access to BookPress AJAX endpoints to authenticated administrative users only
• Use WordPress security plugins that provide additional access control layers and request validation
• Restrict direct access to admin-ajax.php from untrusted networks where feasible
• Consider implementing IP-based access controls for WordPress administrative functions as a defense-in-depth measure

# Example: Restrict admin-ajax.php access via .htaccess (Apache)
# Note: This may impact legitimate AJAX functionality - test thoroughly
<Files admin-ajax.php>
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
    # Allow specific trusted IP ranges
    Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
</Files>