CVE-2025-2933: WordPress Email Notifications Privilege Escalation

CVE-2025-2933 Overview

The Email Notifications for Updates plugin for WordPress contains a missing authorization vulnerability [CWE-862] in the awun_import_settings() function. All versions up to and including 1.1.6 fail to perform a capability check before processing settings imports. Authenticated users holding Subscriber-level access or above can update arbitrary WordPress options. Attackers leverage this primitive to set the default registration role to administrator and enable open user registration, granting themselves administrative access to vulnerable sites. NVD notes that CVE-2025-26741 is likely a duplicate of this issue.

Critical Impact
Subscriber-level attackers can escalate to full administrator privileges on affected WordPress installations, leading to complete site takeover.

Affected Products

WordPress plugin: Email Notifications for Updates
All versions through 1.1.6
WordPress sites permitting Subscriber-level (or higher) registration

Discovery Timeline

2025-04-05 - CVE-2025-2933 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-2933

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the plugin's awun_import_settings() function, which handles importing plugin configuration data. The function processes incoming settings without verifying that the requesting user holds an administrative capability such as manage_options. As a result, any authenticated session — including the lowest-privileged Subscriber role — can invoke the import handler and write to the WordPress wp_options table.

Because wp_options controls site-wide configuration, attackers do not need to touch user records directly. They modify the default_role option to administrator and flip the users_can_register flag to 1. The attacker then registers a new account through the standard WordPress signup endpoint and receives administrator privileges automatically. The vulnerability carries an EPSS probability of 0.321%.

Root Cause

The root cause is a missing capability check [CWE-862] in the AJAX or admin-post handler bound to awun_import_settings(). WordPress requires plugin authors to gate privileged actions with current_user_can() checks and nonce verification through check_admin_referer() or wp_verify_nonce(). The plugin omits the capability gate, leaving authorization enforcement absent for a high-impact administrative operation.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires only low-privileged authentication. An attacker first obtains Subscriber access, either through self-registration on sites that allow it or via compromised low-tier accounts. The attacker then issues a crafted HTTP request to the plugin's import endpoint containing a serialized options payload. The payload sets default_role=administrator and users_can_register=1. After the options are written, the attacker registers a fresh account through /wp-login.php?action=register and inherits administrator privileges. No exploitation in the wild has been confirmed at this time.

The vulnerability mechanism is documented in the Wordfence Vulnerability Report and the corresponding fix is visible in the WordPress Changeset Notification.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-2933

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected changes to the default_role and users_can_register values in the wp_options table.
New administrator accounts created shortly after Subscriber-level registrations or logins.
HTTP POST requests to plugin admin endpoints referencing awun_import_settings from non-admin sessions.
Audit log entries showing options updates originating from users without manage_options capability.

Detection Strategies

Monitor wp_options writes for the keys default_role, users_can_register, siteurl, and home, correlating with the authenticated user's role.
Inspect web server access logs for POSTs to admin-ajax.php or admin-post.php with action parameters tied to the Email Notifications for Updates plugin.
Alert on any privilege transition where an account is promoted to administrator without an existing admin-initiated workflow.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable WordPress audit logging plugins to capture role changes, option updates, and new user registrations.
Forward WordPress and web server logs to a centralized analytics platform for correlation across sessions and IPs.
Set baseline alerts for the wp_users table whenever a user_registered event is followed within minutes by a role elevation.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-2933

Immediate Actions Required

Update the Email Notifications for Updates plugin to a version newer than 1.1.6, or deactivate and remove it if no patched release is available.
Audit all administrator accounts and remove any that cannot be tied to legitimate users.
Reset default_role to subscriber and disable users_can_register unless registration is intentionally required.
Rotate credentials and secret keys defined in wp-config.php if compromise is suspected.

Patch Information

The vendor remediated the issue in the WordPress plugin repository. Review the WordPress Changeset Notification for the exact code change that introduces the capability check on awun_import_settings(). Apply the latest available plugin update through the WordPress admin dashboard or via WP-CLI.

Workarounds

Restrict access to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php and /wp-admin/admin-post.php at the web application firewall (WAF) for unauthenticated and Subscriber-level users where feasible.
Disable open user registration by setting users_can_register to 0 until the plugin is patched.
Remove the plugin's directory from wp-content/plugins/ to fully neutralize the vulnerable code path.

bash

# Configuration example: harden registration via WP-CLI until patched
wp option update users_can_register 0
wp option update default_role subscriber
wp plugin deactivate wp-update-mail-notification