CVE-2025-7722: Social Streams WordPress Vulnerability

CVE-2025-7722 Overview

The Social Streams plugin for WordPress contains a privilege escalation vulnerability affecting all versions up to and including 1.0.1. The flaw resides in the plugin's handling of the update_user_meta() function, which fails to validate a user's identity before updating user meta information. Authenticated attackers holding Subscriber-level access or higher can modify their own user type to administrator. This grants full control over the affected WordPress site, including content, plugins, and connected user accounts. The vulnerability is classified under [CWE-272: Least Privilege Violation].

Critical Impact
Any authenticated user with Subscriber privileges can elevate to administrator and achieve full site compromise.

Affected Products

Social Streams plugin for WordPress, versions up to and including 1.0.1
WordPress installations with the Social Streams plugin activated
Sites permitting open user registration with the plugin enabled

Discovery Timeline

2025-07-23 - CVE-2025-7722 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-7722

Vulnerability Analysis

The Social Streams plugin exposes a JSON API endpoint defined in JsonAPI.php that invokes update_user_meta() without verifying that the authenticated requester is authorized to modify the targeted user meta keys. The plugin treats authenticated user input as trusted and writes attacker-controlled values directly into the wp_usermeta table.

WordPress relies on the wp_capabilities user meta key to determine a user's role. By updating this key, an attacker assigns themselves the administrator role. The plugin's failure to enforce a least-privilege check on the meta update is the core defect tracked as [CWE-272].

A successful attack yields full administrative control over the WordPress instance. Administrators can install plugins, edit themes, execute PHP through theme files, exfiltrate database contents, and pivot into adjacent systems. The Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS) places exploitation likelihood at 0.379%.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing capability and identity validation prior to a call to update_user_meta() within the plugin's JSON API handler. The handler does not call current_user_can() against an appropriate capability such as edit_users, and it does not restrict which meta keys an authenticated user may write. The handler also fails to confirm that the target user ID matches the requester when self-service updates are intended.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires only Subscriber-level credentials, which are trivially obtained on sites with open registration. The attacker authenticates, then issues a crafted HTTP request to the plugin's JSON API endpoint. The request supplies a meta key of wp_capabilities with a serialized value granting the administrator role. The server processes the request without authorization checks and persists the change. The attacker then logs into the WordPress admin dashboard with full privileges. The vulnerability is exploitable over the network with low attack complexity and no user interaction.

The vulnerability mechanism is documented in the WordPress Plugin Code Review and the Wordfence Vulnerability Report.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-7722

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected role changes in the wp_usermeta table where meta_key = 'wp_capabilities' for low-privilege accounts
New or recently registered Subscriber accounts that subsequently appear in the administrator role list
HTTP POST requests to Social Streams JSON API endpoints containing meta_key or wp_capabilities parameters
Unexpected plugin or theme installations, or modifications to theme PHP files following account registration events

Detection Strategies

Audit the wp_usermeta table for wp_capabilities values that do not match the role originally assigned at registration
Review web server access logs for requests to the Social Streams plugin's JSON API path, correlating low-privileged session cookies with privilege-modifying parameters
Compare current administrator account lists against a known-good baseline established before plugin installation

Monitoring Recommendations

Forward WordPress audit logs and web server access logs to a centralized analytics platform for correlation
Alert on any role transitions from subscriber to administrator outside of approved change windows
Monitor for new administrator account creation events and authentication from previously unseen IP addresses

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-7722

Immediate Actions Required

Deactivate and remove the Social Streams plugin until a patched version is published by the maintainer
Disable open user registration by setting Anyone can register to off in Settings > General
Audit all administrator accounts and revoke any that were not provisioned through approved processes
Force a password reset for all existing user accounts and invalidate active sessions

Patch Information

At the time of NVD publication, no fixed version of the Social Streams plugin has been identified in the available references. Administrators should monitor the plugin's WordPress repository page and the Wordfence Vulnerability Report for updates and apply patches immediately once released.

Workarounds

Remove the Social Streams plugin entirely from production WordPress installations
Restrict access to /wp-json/ and plugin-specific API endpoints at the web server or web application firewall (WAF) layer
Enforce least-privilege role assignments and require administrator approval before granting any role above Subscriber
Apply WAF rules that block requests containing wp_capabilities in user-supplied meta update parameters

bash

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

# List users currently holding the administrator role
wp user list --role=administrator --fields=ID,user_login,user_email,user_registered

# Deactivate and uninstall the vulnerable plugin
wp plugin deactivate social-streams
wp plugin uninstall social-streams