Overview
A significant vulnerability has been identified in the WP Legal Pages plugin for WordPress, a popular software platform that is widely used for generating Privacy Policies and Terms & Conditions. The vulnerability, labeled as CVE-2025-8565, permits unauthorized access to functionality and allows authenticated attackers to install arbitrary repository plugins. This vulnerability specifically affects all versions up to, and including, 3.4.3 of the WP Legal Pages plugin.
The potential impact of this vulnerability is severe, with the possibility of targeted systems being compromised or sensitive data being leaked. It is essential for all who utilize the WP Legal Pages plugin to understand the nature of this vulnerability and take the necessary steps to mitigate its potential damage.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-8565
Severity: High (8.1/10 – CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low (Contributor-level access and above)
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Unauthorized access to functionality, potential system compromise, and data leakage.
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
WP Legal Pages plugin for WordPress | Up to and including 3.4.3
How the Exploit Works
The CVE-2025-8565 vulnerability stems from a missing capability check on the wplp_gdpr_install_plugin_ajax_handler() function within the WP Legal Pages plugin. This missing check allows authenticated users with Contributor-level access or higher to install arbitrary repository plugins. This means that an attacker could install a malicious plugin that could compromise the system or leak sensitive data.
Conceptual Example Code
Here is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability could be exploited. This example is a pseudocode representation of a malicious AJAX request that installs a harmful plugin:
POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
action=wplp_gdpr_install_plugin&plugin_slug=malicious-pluginThis pseudocode represents an HTTP POST request to the admin-ajax.php file, which is used by WordPress to handle AJAX requests. The ‘action’ parameter is set to ‘wplp_gdpr_install_plugin’, which is the vulnerable function, and the ‘plugin_slug’ parameter is set to ‘malicious-plugin’, representing the slug of a potentially harmful plugin that the attacker wants to install.
Mitigation
Users of the WP Legal Pages plugin are advised to apply the vendor patch as soon as it becomes available. In the interim, the use of a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is recommended as a temporary mitigation measure. Regularly updating all software components, including plugins and the WordPress core, is a good practice to prevent exploitation of similar vulnerabilities.
