Overview
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has recently identified a critical vulnerability, CVE-2025-1909, associated with the BuddyBoss Platform Pro plugin for WordPress. This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to bypass authentication measures, enabling them to log in as any existing user on the site, including administrators. This is particularly concerning as it poses a significant threat to the integrity and security of websites that use this plugin. If exploited, this could lead to potential system compromise or data leakage, putting sensitive user information and website operations at risk.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-1909
Severity: Critical (9.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise, data leakage
Affected Products
No phone number, email, or personal info required.
Product | Affected Versions
BuddyBoss Platform Pro Plugin for WordPress | Up to, and including, 2.7.01
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability exists due to insufficient verification of the user being supplied during the Apple OAuth authenticate request through the plugin. In essence, if an attacker gains access to a user’s email, they are able to bypass the authentication process and log in as that user. This vulnerability is especially dangerous if the email of an administrator is known, as it would give the attacker full administrative rights to the website.
Conceptual Example Code
Here’s a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. This is a sample HTTP request that the attacker could use:
POST /wp-login.php HTTP/1.1
Host: vulnerable-website.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
log=admin&pwd=&testcookie=1&redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fvulnerable-website.com%2Fwp-admin%2F&wp-submit=Log+InIn this example, the attacker is attempting to log in as an ‘admin’ without providing a password.
Mitigation Guidance
To mitigate this vulnerability, users are advised to apply the vendor patch as soon as it becomes available. If a patch is not yet available, users can use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) as a temporary mitigation measure. It’s also recommended to regularly update and patch all software components to reduce the risk of potential security vulnerabilities.