CVE-2025-54705

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-54705 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the WpEvently (mage-eventpress) WordPress plugin by Magepeopleteam, affecting versions up to and including 4.4.6. This flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive data or functionality. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 4.3 (Medium), with a low EPSS score of 0.0%, indicating low exploitation likelihood at this time. No public proof-of-concept (PoC) or exploit code has been released, and no patch is currently available.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository. Users are advised to monitor the plugin's update channel for a patched version. As a supply chain risk, any site using WpEvently <= 4.4.6 is potentially exposed until a fix is applied.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 4.3 (Medium)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
• Attack Vector: Network (AV:N) – Exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – No special conditions required.
• Privileges Required: None (PR:N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – No user action required.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – Impact confined to the vulnerable component.
• Confidentiality Impact: Low (C:L) – Limited information disclosure.
• Integrity Impact: None (I:N) – No data modification.
• Availability Impact: None (A:N) – No denial of service.

Threat Level: Medium. While the impact is limited to confidentiality, the ease of exploitation (no auth, low complexity) makes it a viable target for automated scanning.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the WpEvently (mage-eventpress) WordPress plugin, which provides event management functionality. The issue is a Missing Authorization (CWE-862) flaw, meaning the plugin fails to properly verify that a user has the necessary permissions before allowing access to certain functions or data.

Specifically, the plugin likely exposes REST API endpoints or AJAX actions that do not enforce capability checks. An unauthenticated attacker can send crafted HTTP requests to these endpoints to retrieve sensitive information, such as event details, attendee lists, or configuration data. The vulnerability is present in all versions up to and including 4.4.6.

Root Cause: The plugin's access control logic is incorrectly configured, allowing unauthenticated access to functions that should require at least a subscriber-level or higher role.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, a hypothetical fix would involve adding capability checks to all sensitive functions. Below is an example of vulnerable vs. patched code for a typical AJAX handler.

Vulnerable Code (mage-eventpress <= 4.4.6):

add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_get_event_details', 'get_event_details');
function get_event_details() {
    $event_id = $_POST['event_id'];
    // No capability check
    $event = get_post($event_id);
    echo json_encode($event);
    wp_die();
}

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_get_event_details', 'get_event_details');
function get_event_details() {
    // Add capability check
    if (!current_user_can('read')) {
        wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
    }
    $event_id = $_POST['event_id'];
    $event = get_post($event_id);
    echo json_encode($event);
    wp_die();
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Prerequisites:

• Target WordPress site with WpEvently <= 4.4.6 installed and activated.
• No authentication required.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify vulnerable endpoints by analyzing the plugin's source code or using a tool like Burp Suite to spider the site.
2. Send a crafted HTTP request to a vulnerable AJAX action or REST endpoint. For example:

   curl -X POST http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php \
        -d 'action=get_event_details&event_id=1'
   

3. If the endpoint returns sensitive data (e.g., event details, attendee info), the vulnerability is confirmed.

Note: No public exploit code is available. The above is a generic example based on the vulnerability type.

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual HTTP requests to admin-ajax.php or REST API endpoints with parameters related to event functions.
• Look for requests from unauthenticated users to actions that should require authentication.

Mitigation:

• Disable the plugin until a patch is released.
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests to known vulnerable endpoints.
• Use a security plugin like Wordfence to add virtual patching.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action parameters like get_event_details, get_attendees, or similar.
  • Unauthenticated access to /wp-json/mage-eventpress/v1/ endpoints.
• File IOCs:
  • Plugin file: /wp-content/plugins/mage-eventpress/ (version <= 4.4.6).
• Log IOCs:
  • WordPress debug log entries showing failed capability checks or unexpected access to AJAX handlers.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_54705_WpEvently_Missing_Auth {
    meta:
        description = "Detects WpEvently plugin files with missing authorization vulnerability"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-01"
        cve = "CVE-2025-54705"
    strings:
        $vuln_func = "wp_ajax_nopriv_" nocase
        $no_check = "current_user_can" nocase
    condition:
        $vuln_func and not $no_check
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-54705 - WpEvently Missing Authorization Exploitation
id: 8a4b3c2d-1e5f-4a7b-9c8d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects unauthenticated access to WpEvently AJAX endpoints
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-01
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'admin-ajax.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains|all:
            - 'action=get_event_details'
            - 'event_id='
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin activity (rare)
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2025-54705 - WpEvently Missing Authorization Exploit";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"POST"; http_method;
    content:"admin-ajax.php"; http_uri;
    content:"action=get_event_details"; http_client_body;
    content:"event_id="; http_client_body;
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
    metadata:created_at 2025-04-01, cve CVE-2025-54705;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin until a patch is released by the vendor.
2. Implement a WAF rule to block requests to admin-ajax.php with suspicious action parameters.
3. Monitor logs for exploitation attempts.

Long-term Fix:

• Apply the official patch once released by Magepeopleteam.
• Update to the latest version of WpEvently when available.
• Conduct a security audit of all WordPress plugins for similar issues.

Workaround:

• Use a security plugin (e.g., Wordfence, Sucuri) to add virtual patching.
• Restrict access to admin-ajax.php via .htaccess for unauthenticated users (may break legitimate functionality).

Valters IT
Senior DevSecOps & Cyber Threat Intelligence Expert