{"id":50188,"date":"2025-06-09T08:02:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T08:02:47","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-09-27T08:15:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T14:15:29","slug":"cve-2025-4797-privilege-escalation-via-account-takeover-in-golo-city-travel-guide-wordpress-theme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-4797-privilege-escalation-via-account-takeover-in-golo-city-travel-guide-wordpress-theme\/","title":{"rendered":"CVE-2025-4797: Privilege Escalation via Account Takeover in Golo – City Travel Guide WordPress Theme<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system has identified a critical security flaw, CVE-2025-4797, in the Golo – City Travel Guide WordPress Theme. This vulnerability pertains to all versions up to and including 1.7.0. This issue poses a substantial threat to the integrity of data and systems as it allows unauthenticated attackers to escalate privileges<\/a> via account takeover. As a result, they can potentially log into the system<\/a> as any user, including administrators, given that they know the user’s email address.
\nThe breach is of significant concern due to the widespread use of WordPress as a Content Management<\/a> System (CMS) and the popularity of the Golo – City Travel Guide theme among travel-based businesses and bloggers. The exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to substantial data<\/a> breaches and unauthorized system access, severely affecting businesses and individuals alike.<\/p>\n

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

CVE ID: CVE-2025-4797
\nSeverity: Critical (9.8)
\nAttack Vector: Network
\nPrivileges Required: None
\nUser Interaction: None
\nImpact: System compromise and potential<\/a> data leakage<\/p>\n

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

Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n

Golo – City Travel Guide WordPress Theme<\/a> |<\/p>\n

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

The vulnerability in question arises from the plugin’s<\/a> failure to adequately validate a user’s identity before setting an authorization cookie. This flaw allows<\/a> an attacker with knowledge of a user’s email address to log in as that user, including administrators. This log-in occurs without the need for authentication, providing the attacker with potentially unrestricted access to the system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Here’s a conceptual example of how this vulnerability might be exploited with a malicious HTTP request:<\/a><\/p>\n

POST \/wp-login.php HTTP\/1.1\nHost: vulnerable-website.com\nContent-Type: application\/x-www-form-urlencoded\nlog=admin%40vulnerable-website.com&pwd=&wp-submit=Log+In&redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fvulnerable-website.com%2Fwp-admin%2F&testcookie=1<\/code><\/pre>\n
This request attempts to log in as an administrator using the email address “admin@vulnerable-website.com”. The “testcookie” parameter is used to bypass the need for a password, exploiting the vulnerability in the process<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Mitigation<\/strong><\/p>\n
The recommended mitigation strategy for this vulnerability is to apply the patch provided<\/a> by the vendor. If a patch is not available or cannot be applied immediately, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as a temporary mitigation method. These systems can detect and block exploit attempts, providing a layer of protection until the vulnerability<\/a> can be fully patched.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overview The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system has identified a critical security flaw, CVE-2025-4797, in the Golo – City Travel Guide WordPress Theme. This vulnerability pertains to all versions up to and including 1.7.0. This issue poses a substantial threat to the integrity of data and systems as it allows unauthenticated attackers to escalate […]<\/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-50188","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