CVE-2025-3952: Unauthorized Modification of Data in Projectopia WordPress Plugin

Overview

The CVE-2025-3952 vulnerability exposes websites running on WordPress that utilize the Projectopia project management plugin. This vulnerability allows authenticated users with Subscriber-level access to delete arbitrary data. The potential consequences of this vulnerability are substantial, leading to unauthorized data modification, potential system compromise, or data leakage. In the worst-case scenario, it may result in denial of service, which can disrupt the operations of the WordPress site, damaging the site’s reputation and user experience.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-3952
Severity: High (8.1 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low (Subscriber-level access)
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Unauthorized modification of data leading to potential system compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

Projectopia – WordPress Project Management Plugin | Up to, and including, 5.1.16

How the Exploit Works

The vulnerability stems from a missing capability check on the ‘pto_remove_logo’ function in the Projectopia – WordPress Project Management plugin for WordPress. This omission allows authenticated users with Subscriber-level access to delete arbitrary option values on the WordPress site. The attacker could leverage this oversight to delete an option that would create an error on the site and deny service to legitimate users.

Conceptual Example Code

An attacker might exploit the vulnerability using an HTTP request similar to the following:

POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=pto_remove_logo HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
Cookie: wordpress_logged_in_[hash]=attacker_session
{ "option": "critical_option_to_remove" }

In this conceptual example, the attacker sends a POST request to the ‘pto_remove_logo’ function, using their authenticated session cookie. They specify a critical option to remove, leading to an error on the site and potentially denying service to legitimate users.

Mitigation

As a countermeasure to this vulnerability, it is recommended to apply the vendor patch as soon as it is available. In the meantime, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as temporary mitigation. These security measures can detect and block exploitation attempts, protecting the WordPress site until the vendor patch can be applied.