CVE-2025-53421 Overview
CVE-2025-53421 is a missing authorization vulnerability in the PickPlugins Accordion (accordions) plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 2.3.14. It stems from incorrectly configured access control security levels that allow authenticated low-privilege users to perform actions restricted to higher-privilege roles. The issue is tracked under CWE-862: Missing Authorization.
Critical Impact
An authenticated attacker with low privileges can access or manipulate plugin functionality that should be restricted, leading to disclosure of sensitive plugin-managed data across the WordPress site.
Affected Products
- PickPlugins Accordion (accordions) WordPress plugin
- All versions up to and including 2.3.14
- WordPress installations with the vulnerable plugin activated
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-10-22 - CVE-2025-53421 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-53421
Vulnerability Analysis
The Accordion plugin exposes functionality without enforcing appropriate capability checks. WordPress plugins must validate user capabilities using functions such as current_user_can() before executing privileged operations. This plugin skips or misapplies those checks on one or more request handlers.
An attacker who holds any authenticated account, including low-privilege roles such as Subscriber, can invoke the affected functionality. The result is broken access control that undermines the site's role-based permission model. The CVSS vector indicates network attack reach, low complexity, and confidentiality impact only, with no effect on integrity or availability.
The EPSS score is 0.294% at the 22nd percentile, indicating a low probability of exploitation activity in the near term. However, WordPress plugin flaws of this class are routinely weaponized once public detail is available.
Root Cause
The root cause is a missing authorization check on one or more plugin endpoints or AJAX handlers. The plugin trusts that the request originates from an authorized user without verifying the caller's capabilities. This maps directly to CWE-862, Missing Authorization.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires network access to the WordPress site and a valid authenticated session with low privileges. An attacker sends a crafted request to the vulnerable plugin endpoint, bypassing the intended role-based restrictions. No user interaction is required beyond the attacker's own authenticated request.
A complete technical breakdown is available in the Patchstack Vulnerability Report.
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Stop Identity AttacksDetection Methods for CVE-2025-53421
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected requests from low-privilege user accounts to admin-ajax.php or plugin-specific REST endpoints associated with the Accordion plugin
- Modifications to accordion content or plugin settings that cannot be attributed to administrator activity
- New or unexpected Subscriber-level accounts that immediately interact with plugin management functions
Detection Strategies
- Review WordPress access logs for HTTP POST requests to plugin endpoints originating from non-administrative sessions
- Enable WordPress audit logging plugins to capture capability-sensitive actions and correlate them with the calling user role
- Inspect installed plugin versions across managed WordPress sites and flag any Accordion plugin at version 2.3.14 or earlier
Monitoring Recommendations
- Alert on anomalous authenticated activity from low-privilege roles targeting plugin AJAX actions
- Track version inventory of WordPress plugins to identify unpatched instances
- Forward web server and WordPress application logs to a centralized analytics pipeline for correlation and long-term retention
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-53421
Immediate Actions Required
- Update the PickPlugins Accordion plugin to a version later than 2.3.14 as soon as a patched release is available
- Audit all existing user accounts and remove any unrecognized low-privilege users
- Restrict new user registration on WordPress sites that do not require public sign-up
Patch Information
At the time of publication, the vulnerability affects Accordion versions up to and including 2.3.14. Administrators should monitor the Patchstack advisory and the plugin's WordPress.org listing for a fixed release, then update immediately.
Workarounds
- Deactivate and remove the Accordion plugin until a patched version is released if the functionality is not business-critical
- Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block unauthenticated and low-privilege requests to the plugin's affected endpoints
- Disable open user registration by unsetting the Anyone can register option in WordPress general settings
# Configuration example: disable open registration and enforce default role
wp option update users_can_register 0
wp option update default_role subscriber
# Inventory the installed Accordion plugin version
wp plugin get accordions --field=version
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
