CVE-2025-68042: Travelpayouts Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-68042 Overview

CVE-2025-68042 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability affecting the Travelpayouts WordPress plugin. This vulnerability allows attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels, potentially enabling unauthorized access to plugin functionality that should be restricted to authenticated users with appropriate privileges.

The vulnerability stems from a Broken Access Control issue (CWE-862) where the plugin fails to properly verify user authorization before allowing access to protected resources or functionality. Attackers with low-level authenticated access could potentially escalate their privileges or access restricted features within the WordPress installation.

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers can exploit missing authorization checks to access restricted plugin functionality, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, configuration changes, or other security-impacting actions.

Affected Products

Travelpayouts WordPress Plugin versions up to and including 1.2.1

Discovery Timeline

2026-02-20 - CVE CVE-2025-68042 published to NVD
2026-02-25 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-68042

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a classic Broken Access Control flaw where the Travelpayouts WordPress plugin fails to implement proper authorization checks on sensitive functionality. The missing authorization allows authenticated users to perform actions or access resources beyond their intended permission level.

The vulnerability requires network access and a low-privileged authenticated session to exploit, but also requires some user interaction. The impact extends beyond the vulnerable component itself, potentially affecting other parts of the WordPress installation. Successful exploitation can result in limited compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system.

Root Cause

The root cause is CWE-862: Missing Authorization. The Travelpayouts plugin does not properly verify that a user is authorized to perform certain actions before processing requests. This occurs when the plugin handles sensitive operations without checking the user's capabilities or roles, relying solely on authentication rather than proper authorization.

In WordPress plugins, this typically manifests as AJAX handlers or admin functions that verify a user is logged in (is_user_logged_in()) but fail to check if the user has the required capabilities (current_user_can()) for the requested action.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, requiring an authenticated session with at least low-level privileges on the WordPress site. An attacker would need to:

Obtain or create a low-privileged user account on the target WordPress installation (e.g., subscriber role)
Identify the vulnerable endpoints or AJAX handlers in the Travelpayouts plugin
Craft requests to access functionality that should be restricted to administrators or editors
Execute unauthorized actions such as modifying plugin settings or accessing restricted data

The vulnerability affects the scope beyond the vulnerable component, meaning exploitation could impact other parts of the WordPress installation or expose data from other plugins or the core system.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-68042

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected changes to Travelpayouts plugin settings or configurations
Low-privileged users accessing admin-only plugin functionality
Unusual AJAX requests to Travelpayouts plugin endpoints from non-administrative users
Audit log entries showing unauthorized access attempts to restricted plugin features

Detection Strategies

Monitor WordPress audit logs for access control violations involving the Travelpayouts plugin
Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect unusual parameter manipulation in plugin requests
Review user activity logs for low-privileged accounts attempting to access administrative functions
Enable WordPress security plugins that track capability checks and authorization failures

Monitoring Recommendations

Configure real-time alerting for unauthorized access attempts to plugin administrative functions
Implement file integrity monitoring on the Travelpayouts plugin directory
Review WordPress user roles and capabilities regularly to ensure proper access control
Monitor for plugin configuration changes that don't correlate with administrator activity

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-68042

Immediate Actions Required

Update the Travelpayouts plugin to a patched version when available from the vendor
Review and audit all user accounts on the WordPress installation, removing unnecessary privileges
Implement additional access control through WordPress security plugins as a temporary measure
Consider temporarily disabling the Travelpayouts plugin if it's not critical to site operations

Patch Information

A patch for CVE-2025-68042 addresses the missing authorization checks in the Travelpayouts plugin. Users should update to a version newer than 1.2.1 when released by the plugin vendor. Check the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for the latest patch status and recommendations.

Workarounds

Restrict access to the WordPress admin panel to trusted IP addresses using .htaccess or firewall rules
Remove or limit user accounts with any level of authenticated access until a patch is available
Implement capability checks at the web server level using ModSecurity or similar WAF rules
Consider using a WordPress security plugin to add additional authorization layers

bash

# Restrict wp-admin access by IP in .htaccess
# Add to your WordPress .htaccess file
<Files wp-login.php>
    Order Deny,Allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
    Allow from YOUR.TRUSTED.IP.ADDRESS
</Files>