CVE-2025-30624: WordLift Authorization Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-30624 is an authorization bypass flaw in the WordLift WordPress plugin affecting versions up to 3.54.4. Attackers can exploit misconfigured access controls to gain unauthorized access. This article covers technical details, affected versions, security impact, and recommended mitigation strategies.

CVE-2025-30624 Overview

CVE-2025-30624 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability [CWE-862] in the WordLift plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 3.54.4. It stems from incorrectly configured access control on one or more plugin endpoints, allowing authenticated users with low privileges to perform actions that should require elevated permissions. Successful exploitation results in a limited integrity impact on the affected WordPress site. The issue was published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) on June 6, 2025, and cataloged through Patchstack's WordPress vulnerability database.

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers with minimal privileges can invoke restricted plugin functionality due to broken access control, modifying WordLift-managed data without proper authorization checks.

Affected Products

WordLift plugin for WordPress — all versions from n/a through 3.54.4
WordPress installations with the WordLift plugin enabled
Sites relying on WordLift for structured data and knowledge graph management

Discovery Timeline

2025-06-06 - CVE-2025-30624 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-30624

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is classified as Missing Authorization under [CWE-862]. WordLift exposes plugin functionality through endpoints that do not correctly verify the caller's role or capability before executing sensitive operations. An attacker holding any authenticated session, including low-privilege accounts such as subscriber or contributor, can reach these endpoints and invoke actions restricted to administrators or editors.

The scope is unchanged and confidentiality and availability are not directly impacted. Integrity is the primary consequence, meaning attackers can modify data managed by WordLift, such as entity definitions, structured content, or plugin configuration values. See the Patchstack WordLift Vulnerability Report for the vendor-facing advisory.

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence or misconfiguration of capability checks such as current_user_can() and nonce verification within the plugin's action handlers. Endpoints registered through WordPress hooks like admin-ajax.php or the REST API respond to authenticated requests without validating that the requester holds the intended role. This is a common Broken Access Control pattern in WordPress plugins.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires network access to the target WordPress site and a valid low-privilege account. The attacker sends a crafted HTTP request to the vulnerable WordLift endpoint. Because the endpoint does not enforce the correct capability check, the server processes the request and performs the privileged action on behalf of the attacker. No user interaction is required beyond the initial authenticated session.

No public proof-of-concept exploit is currently listed in ExploitDB, and the vulnerability is not present in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Detailed exploitation code is not available in vendor advisories; refer to the Patchstack WordLift Vulnerability Report for additional context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-30624

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected modifications to WordLift entities, vocabulary terms, or structured data managed by the plugin.
Requests to WordLift-related endpoints under /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php or /wp-json/wordlift/ originating from low-privilege user sessions.
WordPress audit logs showing configuration or content changes attributed to subscriber or contributor accounts.

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server access logs for POST requests to WordLift plugin endpoints followed by administrative changes.
Correlate WordPress user role information with the actions performed to identify privilege mismatches.
Deploy a WordPress security plugin or Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule that flags calls to WordLift AJAX or REST routes from non-privileged accounts.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable detailed WordPress audit logging for plugin configuration changes and content modifications.
Forward WordPress and web server logs to a centralized analytics platform for correlation across accounts and endpoints.
Alert on anomalous spikes in requests to wordlift action names or REST namespaces from unprivileged sessions.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-30624

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade the WordLift plugin to a version later than 3.54.4 as soon as the vendor releases a patched release.
Audit existing WordPress user accounts and remove or downgrade unused low-privilege accounts that could be leveraged for exploitation.
Review WordLift-managed content and configuration for unauthorized modifications.

Patch Information

Refer to the Patchstack WordLift Vulnerability Report for the current fixed version and vendor guidance. Apply the update through the WordPress plugin management console or via WP-CLI once the patched release is available.

Workarounds

Restrict user registration and disable self-service account creation until the plugin is patched.
Use a WAF or WordPress security plugin to block unauthenticated and low-privilege access to WordLift AJAX actions and REST routes.
Temporarily deactivate the WordLift plugin if the affected functionality is not essential to site operations.

bash

# Update WordLift via WP-CLI once a patched version is published
wp plugin update wordlift

# Verify the installed version is greater than 3.54.4
wp plugin get wordlift --field=version