CVE-2025-64294: WP Snow Effect Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-64294 Overview

CVE-2025-64294 is a missing authorization vulnerability [CWE-862] in the d3wp WP Snow Effect plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 1.1.19. The plugin fails to enforce proper access control checks on its notice dismissal functionality, allowing unauthenticated actors to invoke functionality that should be restricted by Access Control Lists (ACLs).

The issue is network-exploitable, requires no authentication, and no user interaction. Impact is limited to low integrity effects with no confidentiality or availability consequences.

Critical Impact
Unauthenticated attackers can access functionality not properly constrained by ACLs in the WP Snow Effect plugin, enabling low-impact integrity changes such as dismissing administrative notices.

Affected Products

d3wp WP Snow Effect plugin for WordPress
All versions from n/a through 1.1.19
WordPress sites with the wp-snow-effect plugin installed and active

Discovery Timeline

2025-11-03 - CVE-2025-64294 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-64294

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from a broken access control condition in the notice dismissal handler of the WP Snow Effect plugin. The plugin exposes an action endpoint that processes dismissal requests without verifying that the caller possesses the required WordPress capability or a valid nonce.

As a result, any unauthenticated visitor can send a crafted request to the affected endpoint and trigger the dismissal action. Because the impact is confined to a non-sensitive administrative notice state, the vulnerability does not expose confidential data or disrupt availability.

The weakness is classified under CWE-862 (Missing Authorization). It represents a common WordPress plugin flaw where AJAX or admin-post handlers omit current_user_can() capability checks and nonce validation via check_ajax_referer().

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence of a server-side authorization check in the plugin's notice dismissal callback. The handler processes state-changing requests without validating the requester's WordPress role, capability, or a signed nonce token. This allows any HTTP client to invoke the function directly.

Attack Vector

An attacker sends an unauthenticated HTTP request to the WordPress AJAX endpoint (wp-admin/admin-ajax.php) with the plugin's dismissal action parameter. The server executes the dismissal logic without verifying identity or intent. No credentials, session, or user interaction are required to trigger the flaw.

The vulnerability manifests through direct invocation of the plugin's registered action hook. Refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for additional technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-64294

Indicators of Compromise

Unauthenticated POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php referencing WP Snow Effect action names from non-logged-in sessions.
Unexpected changes to plugin option or user meta values tracking notice dismissal state.
Requests to the dismissal endpoint originating from IP addresses with no prior authenticated session cookies.

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server access logs for repeated admin-ajax.php calls without a valid wordpress_logged_in_* cookie.
Enable WordPress plugin auditing to capture calls into plugin action handlers and compare against expected authenticated traffic patterns.
Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules that flag AJAX actions invoked without a valid _wpnonce parameter.

Monitoring Recommendations

Monitor the wp_options table and user meta entries for unexpected modifications tied to the WP Snow Effect plugin.
Alert on anomalous request volume targeting the dismissal action endpoint from unauthenticated sources.
Track installed plugin inventory and version data to identify any WordPress hosts running wp-snow-effect version 1.1.19 or earlier.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-64294

Immediate Actions Required

Identify all WordPress installations with the WP Snow Effect plugin active and confirm the installed version.
Update the plugin to a patched release beyond 1.1.19 once the vendor publishes a fix.
If no patched version is available, deactivate and remove the plugin from production sites.

Patch Information

As of the last modification date, the Patchstack Vulnerability Report is the authoritative source for remediation status. Administrators should apply the patched version as soon as it is released by d3wp through the WordPress plugin repository.

Workarounds

Deactivate the wp-snow-effect plugin until a fixed version is available.
Add a WAF rule to block unauthenticated admin-ajax.php requests that reference the plugin's dismissal action.
Restrict access to /wp-admin/ directories to trusted IP ranges where operationally feasible.

bash

# Example WAF rule (ModSecurity) blocking unauthenticated calls to the dismissal action
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" \
  "chain,phase:2,deny,status:403,id:1000064294,msg:'Block WP Snow Effect unauth dismissal'"
SecRule ARGS:action "@rx (?i)wp[_-]?snow[_-]?effect" \
  "chain"
SecRule &REQUEST_COOKIES:/wordpress_logged_in_/ "@eq 0"