CVE-2025-47529: Experto CTA Widget Auth Bypass Flaw

CVE-2025-47529 Overview

CVE-2025-47529 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability [CWE-862] in the UX Design Experts Experto CTA Widget – Call To Action, Sticky CTA, Floating Button Plugin (experto-cta-widget) for WordPress. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 1.1.1. Unauthenticated remote attackers can exploit incorrectly configured access control checks to modify plugin settings without authentication. The vulnerability was published on May 23, 2025 and is tracked with an EPSS score of 0.299%.

Critical Impact
Unauthenticated attackers can alter plugin settings over the network, affecting integrity and availability of WordPress sites running the vulnerable plugin.

Affected Products

UX Design Experts Experto CTA Widget – Call To Action, Sticky CTA, Floating Button Plugin
Plugin slug: experto-cta-widget
Versions up to and including 1.1.1

Discovery Timeline

2025-05-23 - CVE-2025-47529 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-47529

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a Missing Authorization issue in the Experto CTA Widget plugin. One or more plugin actions responsible for changing settings do not enforce capability checks or nonce validation before executing privileged operations. Any network-reachable actor can invoke the vulnerable endpoint and modify plugin configuration. The Patchstack advisory classifies this as a settings-change vulnerability affecting all versions through 1.1.1.

Root Cause

The root cause is an incorrectly configured access control layer in the plugin's request handlers. Handler functions bound to AJAX or admin-post hooks are exposed to unauthenticated requests because they omit calls to current_user_can() and check_admin_referer() or equivalent authorization primitives. This maps to [CWE-862] Missing Authorization.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires only network access to the target WordPress site. An attacker sends a crafted HTTP request to the vulnerable action endpoint without any authentication or user interaction. Because the settings handler skips authorization checks, the request is processed with the privileges required to modify plugin options stored in the WordPress database. The attacker can pivot from modified CTA settings to inject malicious redirect URLs, alter displayed content, or degrade site availability.

No verified public proof-of-concept code has been released. Refer to the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Analysis for additional technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-47529

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected modifications to wp_options rows related to the Experto CTA Widget plugin configuration.
Unauthenticated POST requests to admin-ajax.php or admin-post.php referencing plugin-specific action names.
CTA button links pointing to unfamiliar external domains or redirect URLs.
Requests originating from single IPs targeting /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php without prior session cookies.

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server access logs for anonymous requests to plugin AJAX actions and correlate with option changes.
Enable WordPress audit logging to capture updates to plugin settings and the user context performing them.
Compare current plugin option values against a known-good baseline to identify unauthorized modifications.

Monitoring Recommendations

Alert on HTTP 200 responses to admin-ajax.php requests lacking authentication cookies.
Monitor file integrity for the experto-cta-widget plugin directory to detect version drift.
Track outbound clicks and referrer traffic from CTA widgets for anomalous redirect patterns.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-47529

Immediate Actions Required

Deactivate the Experto CTA Widget plugin on any WordPress site running version 1.1.1 or earlier until a patched release is confirmed.
Audit wp_options for unauthorized changes to plugin settings and restore known-good values.
Restrict access to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php and /wp-admin/admin-post.php at the WAF layer for unauthenticated actions where feasible.

Patch Information

At time of publication, no fixed version is listed in the NVD entry beyond 1.1.1. Consult the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Analysis for the latest remediation status and upgrade guidance from the plugin vendor.

Workarounds

Deploy a virtual patch or WAF rule that blocks unauthenticated POST requests to the vulnerable plugin action endpoints.
Remove the plugin entirely and substitute an actively maintained CTA widget plugin with verified authorization checks.
Enforce IP allowlisting on /wp-admin/ paths to reduce exposure to opportunistic scanners.

bash

# Example WAF rule (ModSecurity) blocking unauthenticated calls to plugin AJAX actions
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@rx /wp-admin/admin-ajax\.php" \
    "chain,phase:2,deny,status:403,id:1004752901,\
    msg:'Block unauth Experto CTA Widget settings change (CVE-2025-47529)'"
    SecRule ARGS:action "@rx experto_cta" \
        "chain"
        SecRule &REQUEST_COOKIES:/wordpress_logged_in_/ "@eq 0"