CVE-2025-67967: Lawyer Directory Auth Bypass Flaw

CVE-2025-67967 Overview

CVE-2025-67967 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability affecting the Lawyer Directory WordPress plugin developed by e-plugins. This broken access control vulnerability allows attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels, potentially enabling unauthorized access to sensitive functionality or data within WordPress sites using the affected plugin.

Critical Impact

Broken access control vulnerabilities can allow unauthorized users to perform privileged actions, access restricted content, or manipulate data without proper authorization checks.

Affected Products

• Lawyer Directory WordPress plugin version 1.3.3 and earlier
• WordPress installations using the vulnerable lawyer-directory plugin

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-01-22 - CVE-2025-67967 published to NVD
• 2026-01-22 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-67967

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-862 (Missing Authorization), indicating that the Lawyer Directory plugin fails to implement proper authorization checks for certain functionality. When authorization controls are absent, the application does not verify whether a user has the appropriate permissions before allowing access to protected resources or actions.

In WordPress plugin architecture, proper authorization typically requires checking user capabilities using functions like current_user_can() before executing privileged operations. The absence of such checks in the Lawyer Directory plugin allows attackers to bypass intended access restrictions.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-67967 is the missing authorization verification in the Lawyer Directory plugin. The plugin fails to properly validate that users have the necessary permissions before allowing them to perform certain operations. This is a common vulnerability pattern in WordPress plugins where developers implement functionality without enforcing proper capability checks, assuming that obscurity or interface-level restrictions are sufficient protection.

Attack Vector

Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by directly accessing plugin endpoints or AJAX handlers that lack proper authorization checks. Since the plugin does not verify user permissions, both unauthenticated visitors and low-privileged users may be able to execute functions that should be restricted to administrators or other authorized roles. The attack can be performed remotely through crafted HTTP requests to vulnerable plugin endpoints.

The vulnerability mechanism involves sending requests to plugin functionality that lacks the required check_ajax_referer() or capability verification calls. For detailed technical analysis, refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-67967

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected modifications to lawyer directory entries or settings without corresponding admin activity
• Access logs showing requests to plugin AJAX handlers from unauthenticated or low-privileged users
• Database changes to plugin-related tables without legitimate administrative actions
• Unusual patterns of POST requests targeting wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with lawyer-directory action parameters

Detection Strategies

• Monitor WordPress access logs for suspicious requests to plugin-specific endpoints
• Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect unauthorized access attempts to admin-only functionality
• Deploy file integrity monitoring to detect unauthorized changes to plugin files or database entries
• Review audit logs for privilege escalation attempts or unauthorized data access patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive logging for all WordPress AJAX requests and plugin activity
• Set up alerts for unusual access patterns to the Lawyer Directory plugin endpoints
• Monitor for failed authorization attempts that may indicate exploitation reconnaissance
• Regularly audit plugin permissions and access control configurations

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-67967

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the Lawyer Directory plugin to a patched version as soon as one becomes available from e-plugins
• Temporarily deactivate the Lawyer Directory plugin if it is not critical to site operations
• Implement additional access control measures at the web server or WAF level to restrict access to plugin endpoints
• Review and audit any data managed by the plugin for signs of unauthorized modification

Patch Information

Organizations should monitor the official e-plugins distribution channels and the WordPress plugin repository for security updates addressing this vulnerability. Until a patch is available, implementing compensating controls is strongly recommended. Refer to the Patchstack vulnerability database for the latest patch status and remediation guidance.

Workarounds

• Temporarily disable the Lawyer Directory plugin until an official patch is released
• Implement server-level access restrictions to limit who can access plugin AJAX endpoints
• Use a WordPress security plugin with virtual patching capabilities to add authorization checks
• Restrict access to the WordPress admin area to trusted IP addresses only

# Apache .htaccess workaround to restrict AJAX access
# Add to WordPress root .htaccess file
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^.*wp-admin/admin-ajax\.php.*$
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} action=.*lawyer.*directory.* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} POST
RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} !wordpress_logged_in [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>