Overview
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system has recently identified a critical vulnerability, CVE-2025-6754, that poses significant risks to users of the SEO Metrics plugin for WordPress. This vulnerability allows for privilege escalation, enabling malicious actors to obtain full administrator access under certain conditions. As WordPress is a widely used content management system, this vulnerability has the potential to impact a vast number of websites globally, making it a serious concern for website administrators, developers, and security teams alike.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-6754
Severity: High (8.8 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low (Subscriber-level user)
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
SEO Metrics Plugin for WordPress | 1.0.5 through 1.0.15
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability arises from missing authorization checks in the SEO Metrics WordPress plugin’s seo_metrics_handle_connect_button_click() AJAX handler and the seo_metrics_handle_custom_endpoint() function. The AJAX action only verifies a nonce, without checking the caller’s capabilities. This oversight allows a subscriber-level user to retrieve the token and then access the custom endpoint. Once the endpoint is accessed, the user can obtain full administrator cookies, escalating their privileges and potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage.
Conceptual Example Code
Below is a hypothetical example of how an attacker might exploit this vulnerability:
POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=seo_metrics_handle_connect_button_click HTTP/1.1
Host: vulnerable-website.com
Content-Type: application/json
{ "nonce": "retrieved_user_nonce" }
// After obtaining the token
GET /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=seo_metrics_handle_custom_endpoint&token=retrieved_token HTTP/1.1
Host: vulnerable-website.comAfter these requests, the attacker would receive the administrator-level cookies, gaining full control over the WordPress site.
Mitigation Guidance
To mitigate this vulnerability, users of the SEO Metrics plugin for WordPress should apply the latest vendor patch. If the patch is not available or cannot be applied immediately, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can provide temporary mitigation. Regularly updating and patching software is a critical part of cybersecurity best practices, as it helps protect systems from known vulnerabilities and exploits.
