{"id":26664,"date":"2025-04-18T19:08:21","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T19:08:21","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-06-01T11:17:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T17:17:54","slug":"cve-2025-3418-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-wpc-admin-columns-plugin-for-wordpress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-3418-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-wpc-admin-columns-plugin-for-wordpress\/","title":{"rendered":"CVE-2025-3418: Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in WPC Admin Columns Plugin for WordPress<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cybersecurity landscape is continuously evolving with new vulnerabilities and threats surfacing regularly. One such recent discovery is the CVE-2025-3418, a privilege escalation vulnerability found in the WPC Admin Columns plugin for WordPress. This vulnerability, affecting versions 2.0.6 to 2.1.0, has the potential to compromise systems or lead<\/a> to data leakage. Its identification and understanding is crucial for anyone running a WordPress site using the stated plugin<\/a>, as it allows attackers to escalate their access level, providing them with an unfair advantage over the system resources.<\/p>\n

Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

CVE ID: CVE-2025-3418
\nSeverity: High (CVSS: 8.8)
\nAttack Vector: Network
\nPrivileges Required: Low (Subscriber-level access)
\nUser Interaction: Required
\nImpact: Potential system compromise or data<\/a> leakage<\/p>\n

Affected Products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n

WPC Admin Columns Plugin for WordPress<\/a> | 2.0.6 to 2.1.0<\/p>\n

How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n

The vulnerability resides in the ajax_edit_save() function of the WPC Admin Columns plugin. This function does not properly restrict user meta<\/a> values that can be updated. As a result, authenticated users with Subscriber-level access and above can manipulate their user meta values to escalate their role to that of an Administrator, gaining full access to the system resources and potentially<\/a> compromising the entire system or leaking sensitive data.<\/p>\n

Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

A conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited<\/a> could look like the following HTTP request:<\/p>\n

POST \/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php HTTP\/1.1\nHost: target.example.com\nContent-Type: application\/json\nCookie: wordpress_logged_in_[hash]=username|expiry_time|session_token\n{\n\"action\": \"wpc_ajax_edit_save\",\n\"id\": \"wp_capabilities\",\n\"value\": \"a:1:{s:13:\"administrator\";b:1;}\"\n}<\/code><\/pre>\n
In this example, the attacker sends an HTTP POST request to the WordPress<\/a> AJAX endpoint, where the action parameter is set to the vulnerable function ‘wpc_ajax_edit_save. The ‘id’ parameter is set to ‘wp_capabilities’, which is the meta key for user roles in WordPress<\/a>, and the ‘value’ parameter is set to the serialized PHP array for the Administrator role.<\/p>\n
Mitigation Guidance<\/strong><\/p>\n
The easiest way to mitigate this vulnerability<\/a> is by applying the vendor patch. If the patch cannot be immediately applied, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can provide temporary mitigation. These systems can be configured to block or alert on HTTP POST requests<\/a> to the WordPress AJAX endpoint with the action parameter set to ‘wpc_ajax_edit_save’ and the ‘id’ parameter set to ‘wp_capabilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overview The cybersecurity landscape is continuously evolving with new vulnerabilities and threats surfacing regularly. One such recent discovery is the CVE-2025-3418, a privilege escalation vulnerability found in the WPC Admin Columns plugin for WordPress. This vulnerability, affecting versions 2.0.6 to 2.1.0, has the potential to compromise systems or lead to data leakage. Its identification and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[],"product":[],"attack_vector":[76],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-26664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","attack_vector-privilege-escalation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t