CVE-2025-67953: Booking Activities Privilege Escalation

CVE-2025-67953 Overview

CVE-2025-67953 is an Incorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerability (CWE-266) affecting the Booking Activities WordPress plugin developed by Booking Activities Team. This security flaw enables attackers to perform privilege escalation attacks, potentially allowing unauthorized users to gain elevated access rights within the WordPress environment.

The vulnerability exists due to improper privilege assignment mechanisms within the plugin's access control implementation, allowing malicious actors to escalate their privileges beyond their intended authorization level.

Critical Impact

Successful exploitation could allow attackers to gain administrative privileges on affected WordPress installations, potentially leading to complete site compromise, data theft, or malicious content injection.

Affected Products

• Booking Activities WordPress Plugin versions up to and including 1.16.44
• WordPress installations running vulnerable Booking Activities plugin versions

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-01-22 - CVE CVE-2025-67953 published to NVD
• 2026-01-22 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-67953

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability falls under CWE-266 (Incorrect Privilege Assignment), which occurs when a product incorrectly assigns a privilege to a particular actor, creating an unintended sphere of control. In the context of the Booking Activities plugin, this manifests as a privilege escalation condition where users can obtain access rights that should not be available to their assigned role.

The flaw enables attackers to bypass normal access control mechanisms within the WordPress plugin, potentially elevating from lower-privileged accounts (such as subscribers or contributors) to higher-privileged roles. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous in WordPress environments where privilege escalation can grant access to sensitive administrative functions.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability stems from incorrect privilege assignment logic within the Booking Activities plugin. The application fails to properly validate and enforce role-based access controls, allowing users to manipulate their privileges through the plugin's functionality. This is a common issue in WordPress plugins where privilege checks may be incomplete or improperly implemented.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability involves authenticated users exploiting the incorrect privilege assignment flaw to escalate their access level. An attacker with a low-privileged WordPress account could leverage the vulnerable plugin functionality to gain elevated privileges. The exact mechanism involves manipulating the plugin's privilege assignment process to acquire unauthorized access rights.

The vulnerability allows privilege escalation through the plugin's booking management functionality. Attackers can potentially manipulate user role assignments or bypass authorization checks to gain administrative capabilities. For detailed technical information, refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-67953

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected privilege changes for user accounts, particularly elevation to administrator roles
• Unusual access to administrative functions by non-admin users
• Anomalous activity in WordPress user role tables or metadata
• Suspicious HTTP requests targeting Booking Activities plugin endpoints

Detection Strategies

• Monitor WordPress user role changes and audit log entries for unauthorized privilege modifications
• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect suspicious privilege escalation attempts
• Review access logs for unusual patterns targeting the booking-activities plugin directory
• Deploy file integrity monitoring to detect unauthorized plugin modifications

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive WordPress audit logging to track user role changes and plugin activities
• Configure alerts for any user privilege modifications, especially elevations to administrative roles
• Monitor for unusual authentication patterns or session anomalies following booking-related actions
• Implement real-time monitoring of WordPress database queries related to user capabilities

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-67953

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the Booking Activities plugin to a version newer than 1.16.44 when a patched version becomes available
• Review all WordPress user accounts for unauthorized privilege escalations
• Temporarily disable the Booking Activities plugin if updates are not yet available and functionality is not critical
• Audit existing user roles and remove any suspicious administrative accounts

Patch Information

Organizations should monitor the Booking Activities plugin developer for security updates addressing this vulnerability. The Patchstack Vulnerability Advisory provides additional guidance on remediation. Ensure automatic plugin updates are enabled or establish a regular patch management schedule for WordPress installations.

Workarounds

• Implement additional access control layers using WordPress security plugins with role-based restrictions
• Restrict plugin administrative functions to trusted IP addresses only
• Enable multi-factor authentication for all WordPress administrative accounts
• Consider implementing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules targeting privilege escalation attempts

# WordPress configuration hardening
# Add to wp-config.php to restrict file editing
define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true);

# Verify plugin version and consider temporary deactivation
wp plugin list --field=name,version | grep booking-activities
wp plugin deactivate booking-activities --skip-plugins

# Audit user roles for suspicious escalations
wp user list --role=administrator --fields=ID,user_login,user_email,user_registered