CVE-2025-6833: WordPress Time Clock Plugin Auth Bypass

CVE-2025-6833 Overview

CVE-2025-6833 affects the All in One Time Clock Lite WordPress plugin in all versions up to and including 2.0. The vulnerability is an Insecure Direct Object Reference [CWE-639] in the aio_time_clock_lite_js AJAX action. The handler fails to validate a user-controlled key, allowing authenticated users with Subscriber-level access or higher to clock other users in and out. The flaw affects the integrity of employee time-tracking data but does not expose confidential information or disrupt availability.

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers with low-privilege Subscriber accounts can manipulate time-clock records belonging to other users, corrupting payroll and attendance data.

Affected Products

All in One Time Clock Lite – Tracking Employee Time Has Never Been Easier (WordPress plugin)
Versions up to and including 2.0
WordPress sites with Subscriber or higher registration enabled

Discovery Timeline

2025-10-22 - CVE-2025-6833 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-6833

Vulnerability Analysis

The plugin exposes an AJAX endpoint registered under the aio_time_clock_lite_js action. This endpoint accepts a parameter that identifies which employee record to update. The handler reads this parameter directly from the request and uses it to perform clock-in and clock-out operations.

The handler does not verify that the authenticated requester owns the target record. Any authenticated session, including a Subscriber account created through standard WordPress registration, satisfies the authentication check. The attacker supplies another user's identifier and submits the AJAX request to alter that user's time entries.

The impact is limited to data integrity. Attackers cannot read sensitive data or crash the service, but they can falsify attendance logs, inflate hours for colluding accounts, or sabotage records for other employees.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing authorization enforcement on a user-controlled key, classified as Insecure Direct Object Reference [CWE-639]. The AJAX handler trusts the client-supplied identifier instead of binding the operation to the current session's user ID or performing a capability check with current_user_can().

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires network access to the WordPress site and an authenticated session at Subscriber level or above. The attacker sends a crafted POST request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=aio_time_clock_lite_js and a target user identifier. No user interaction from the victim is needed. The vulnerability is described in the Wordfence Vulnerability Report.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-6833

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected clock-in or clock-out entries for employees who were not present
POST requests to admin-ajax.php with action=aio_time_clock_lite_js originating from Subscriber accounts
Time-clock records modified by user IDs that do not match the record owner
Clustered time-clock changes from a single authenticated session targeting multiple user IDs

Detection Strategies

Review web server access logs for admin-ajax.php requests referencing the aio_time_clock_lite_js action
Correlate the authenticated user ID in session cookies against the target user ID in request parameters
Audit time-clock database tables for entries written outside normal working hours or from unusual IP addresses

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable WordPress audit logging for AJAX actions and plugin database writes
Alert on Subscriber-role accounts invoking plugin AJAX endpoints that are intended for employee or administrator use
Monitor new Subscriber account registrations followed by immediate AJAX activity against time-tracking endpoints

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-6833

Immediate Actions Required

Update the All in One Time Clock Lite plugin to a version later than 2.0 once the vendor releases a patched release
Disable or deactivate the plugin if a fixed version is not yet available and time-tracking is non-essential
Disable open user registration or restrict the default role to prevent anonymous Subscriber account creation
Review and reconcile recent time-clock entries to detect falsified records

Patch Information

Refer to the WordPress Plugin Change Log for the fix commit and version information. A proper fix enforces authorization by binding clock operations to the authenticated user's ID or by validating that the requester has the capability to modify the target record.

Workarounds

Restrict access to admin-ajax.php for the aio_time_clock_lite_js action using a Web Application Firewall rule
Remove the Subscriber role from new registrations or require administrator approval before activation
Limit plugin usage to trusted internal users and block external access to the WordPress login page

bash

# Example WAF rule to block Subscriber-level access to the vulnerable AJAX action
# ModSecurity rule concept
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" \
    "chain,phase:2,deny,status:403,id:1006833,msg:'Block CVE-2025-6833 IDOR attempt'"
    SecRule ARGS:action "@streq aio_time_clock_lite_js" "t:none"