CVE-2025-69103: Brikk Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-69103 Overview

CVE-2025-69103 is a missing authorization vulnerability [CWE-862] in the Brikk WordPress theme through version 3.0.0. The flaw allows authenticated users with the low-privilege Subscriber role to delete arbitrary content from affected WordPress sites. The vulnerability stems from missing capability checks on a content deletion endpoint exposed by the theme. Attackers exploiting this issue can remove posts, pages, or other content objects without administrative authorization. The result is an availability impact on the targeted WordPress site, including potential loss of published content and disruption of business operations.

Critical Impact
Authenticated Subscriber accounts can delete arbitrary site content, producing a high availability impact on WordPress installations running the Brikk theme <= 3.0.0.

Affected Products

Brikk WordPress theme versions <= 3.0.0
WordPress installations with the Brikk theme active
Sites that permit Subscriber-level account registration

Discovery Timeline

2026-06-17 - CVE-2025-69103 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-69103

Vulnerability Analysis

The Brikk theme exposes a content deletion action handler that does not validate the caller's WordPress capability before executing the deletion. WordPress assigns the Subscriber role the lowest privilege tier, which should only allow reading content and managing the user's own profile. The vulnerable endpoint does not call current_user_can() with an appropriate capability such as delete_post or delete_posts. Any authenticated account, including newly registered Subscribers on sites permitting open registration, can issue the deletion request. The flaw produces no confidentiality or integrity loss directly, but content deletion creates a high availability impact for the affected site.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing authorization [CWE-862] in a theme-provided action handler. The code path that performs content deletion checks authentication via a valid session or nonce but omits the capability check that restricts the action to privileged roles. WordPress role separation depends entirely on developer-implemented capability checks, and their absence collapses the privilege boundary between Subscriber and Administrator for the affected operation.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires network access to the WordPress site and a valid Subscriber-level account. The attacker authenticates, then sends a crafted request to the vulnerable theme endpoint with the identifier of the target content object. No user interaction from an administrator is required. Sites that allow self-service user registration expand the attack surface to any unauthenticated internet user. The vulnerability does not require chained exploits or elevated privileges to trigger. Refer to the Patchstack Brikk Theme Vulnerability advisory for additional technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-69103

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected deletion of posts, pages, or custom post types with no corresponding administrator activity in the WordPress audit log.
HTTP POST requests to Brikk theme AJAX or admin-post handlers originating from Subscriber-level sessions.
Spikes in new Subscriber account registrations followed shortly by content deletion events.

Detection Strategies

Review WordPress activity logs for wp_trash_post or wp_delete_post calls attributed to non-administrative users.
Inspect web server access logs for repeated requests to Brikk theme action endpoints from low-privilege accounts.
Correlate user role assignments with content modification events to identify privilege boundary violations.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable a WordPress audit logging plugin that records content deletion events with the originating user ID and role.
Monitor for the active Brikk theme version across managed WordPress fleets and flag installations at version 3.0.0 or earlier.
Alert on any content deletion performed by accounts holding only the Subscriber capability set.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-69103

Immediate Actions Required

Update the Brikk theme to a version later than 3.0.0 once the vendor publishes a patched release.
Disable open user registration in WordPress settings until the theme is patched.
Audit existing Subscriber accounts and remove any that were not provisioned through expected workflows.

Patch Information

At the time of NVD publication, the affected version range is Brikk <= 3.0.0. Refer to the Patchstack advisory for the current patched version and vendor-supplied remediation guidance.

Workarounds

Deactivate the Brikk theme and switch to an unaffected theme until a fix is available.
Restrict access to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php and wp-admin/admin-post.php from non-administrative users via a web application firewall rule.
Set users_can_register to 0 in WordPress general settings to prevent unauthenticated attackers from creating Subscriber accounts.

bash

# Disable open registration via WP-CLI
wp option update users_can_register 0

# List installed themes and confirm Brikk version
wp theme list --fields=name,status,version

# Deactivate Brikk theme and switch to a default theme
wp theme activate twentytwentyfour