Overview
In the ever-evolving world of cybersecurity, vulnerabilities and threats are a constant concern. One such vulnerability has been identified in the Frontend Dashboard plugin for WordPress, a popular content management platform. Labelled as CVE-2025-4474, this vulnerability allows for privilege escalation due to a missing capability check, leading to potential system compromise or data leakage.
Given the widespread use of WordPress and the popularity of the Frontend Dashboard plugin, this vulnerability impacts a considerable number of users and may lead to drastic consequences if exploited. It is therefore crucial to understand the nature of this vulnerability, its potential impact, and the mitigation steps required to secure your system.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-4474
Severity: High (CVSS: 8.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low (Subscriber-level access and above)
User Interaction: Required
Impact: System compromise and potential data leakage
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Product | Affected Versions
Frontend Dashboard Plugin for WordPress | 1.0 to 2.2.7
How the Exploit Works
The Frontend Dashboard plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation due to a missing capability check on the fed_admin_setting_form_function() function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above to overwrite the plugin’s ‘register’ role setting.
This vulnerability allows for new user registrations to default to the administrator role. Consequently, an attacker can elevate their privileges to that of an administrator, leading to a potentially successful system compromise.
Conceptual Example Code
Here is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited:
POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=fed_admin_setting_form HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{
"user_role": "administrator",
"new_user_default_role": "administrator"
}In this example, an HTTP POST request is made to the vulnerable endpoint (fed_admin_setting_form) with the user_role and new_user_default_role set to “administrator”. If successful, this would effectively grant the attacker administrative privileges on the WordPress site.
Mitigation Guidance
To mitigate this vulnerability, users are recommended to apply the vendor patch as soon as it becomes available. It is also advisable to use Web Application Firewalls (WAF) or Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) as temporary mitigation measures. Regularly updating plugins and WordPress itself is crucial to maintaining the security of your site.