CVE-2025-39457: Booking Manager Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-39457 Overview

CVE-2025-39457 is a missing authorization vulnerability [CWE-862] in the magepeopleteam Booking and Rental Manager plugin for WooCommerce. The flaw affects all plugin versions up to and including 2.2.8. Attackers can exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels to interact with plugin functions without proper permission checks. The vulnerability is exploitable over the network without authentication or user interaction. Successful exploitation results in a limited integrity impact on WordPress sites running the affected plugin.

Critical Impact
Unauthenticated network attackers can bypass access control checks in the Booking and Rental Manager plugin to modify booking-related data.

Affected Products

magepeopleteam Booking and Rental Manager for WooCommerce (booking-and-rental-manager-for-woocommerce)
All versions from n/a through 2.2.8
WordPress installations running the vulnerable plugin

Discovery Timeline

2025-04-17 - CVE-2025-39457 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-39457

Vulnerability Analysis

The Booking and Rental Manager plugin exposes functionality without enforcing proper capability or nonce checks. The plugin registers actions or endpoints that should be restricted to authorized users but does not validate the requester's authorization level. Attackers can send crafted HTTP requests directly to these endpoints and trigger actions reserved for privileged roles. The impact is limited to integrity, meaning attackers can alter certain plugin-managed data but cannot directly read confidential information or take the site offline. The issue falls under the Broken Access Control category and stems from an incomplete authorization model in the plugin's request handlers.

Root Cause

The root cause is a missing authorization check [CWE-862] in one or more plugin endpoints. WordPress plugins must verify user capabilities using functions such as current_user_can() and validate request origin with nonce checks via check_admin_referer() or wp_verify_nonce(). The affected plugin registers callbacks that bypass these checks, allowing any network user to invoke privileged handlers.

Attack Vector

An unauthenticated attacker sends an HTTP request over the network to a vulnerable endpoint exposed by the plugin. Because the endpoint does not verify the caller's role or capabilities, the plugin processes the request as if it came from an authorized user. No user interaction is required, and the attack complexity is low. Refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for details on the affected endpoint.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-39457

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected modifications to booking records, rental items, or plugin configuration entries in the WordPress database.
HTTP requests to admin-ajax.php or plugin-specific endpoints containing Booking and Rental Manager action parameters from unauthenticated sessions.
New or altered bookings originating from unknown IP addresses without corresponding user login events.

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server access logs for POST and GET requests targeting plugin action names without an authenticated session cookie.
Correlate WordPress audit logs with booking table changes to identify actions performed without a matching user ID.
Deploy web application firewall rules that flag calls to Booking and Rental Manager AJAX actions from anonymous clients.

Monitoring Recommendations

Monitor plugin version inventory across WordPress fleets and alert on installations at or below version 2.2.8.
Track anomalous rates of AJAX requests to the plugin's endpoints and baseline expected traffic patterns.
Enable database change auditing on booking-related tables to detect unauthorized writes.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-39457

Immediate Actions Required

Identify all WordPress sites running the Booking and Rental Manager for WooCommerce plugin and confirm the installed version.
Update the plugin to a version above 2.2.8 once a patched release is published by magepeopleteam.
If no patched version is available, disable and remove the plugin until a fix is released.

Patch Information

Consult the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for current patch availability and remediation guidance from the vendor. Apply plugin updates through the WordPress admin dashboard or via wp-cli once a fixed release is available.

Workarounds

Restrict access to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php from untrusted networks using web server or WAF rules.
Add virtual patching rules at the WAF layer to block requests to the vulnerable plugin actions until an official fix is applied.
Enforce least-privilege on WordPress user roles and audit accounts that may have been created or modified through exploitation.

bash

# Configuration example: identify vulnerable plugin installations with wp-cli
wp plugin get booking-and-rental-manager-for-woocommerce --field=version

# Deactivate the vulnerable plugin until a patched release is available
wp plugin deactivate booking-and-rental-manager-for-woocommerce