CVE-2025-12158
📋 TL;DR
The Simple User Capabilities WordPress plugin has a critical privilege escalation vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to elevate any user account to administrator. This affects all WordPress sites using this plugin up to version 1.0. Attackers can gain full administrative control without any authentication.
💻 Affected Systems
- Simple User Capabilities WordPress Plugin
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete site takeover with attacker gaining administrator privileges, installing backdoors, defacing content, stealing data, and using the compromised site for further attacks.
Likely Case
Attackers gain administrator access to vulnerable WordPress sites, potentially installing malware, creating backdoor accounts, or stealing sensitive data.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if plugin is disabled or removed before exploitation, though sites remain vulnerable until patched.
🎯 Exploit Status
The vulnerability is straightforward to exploit as it requires no authentication and minimal technical skill.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Not available
Vendor Advisory: Not available
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Immediately disable and remove the Simple User Capabilities plugin from all WordPress sites. 2. Check for any unauthorized administrator accounts created via this vulnerability. 3. Consider using alternative user management plugins.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Plugin via WordPress Admin
allDeactivate the vulnerable plugin through WordPress admin interface
Navigate to WordPress Admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins > Find 'Simple User Capabilities' > Click 'Deactivate'
Remove Plugin Files
linuxCompletely remove plugin files from server
rm -rf /path/to/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/simple-user-capabilities/
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block requests to the vulnerable suc_submit_capabilities() function
- Restrict access to WordPress admin area using IP whitelisting or additional authentication layers
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if the Simple User Capabilities plugin is installed and activated in WordPress admin panel under Plugins > Installed PluginsCheck Version:
Check WordPress admin panel or examine the plugin's readme.txt file in wp-content/plugins/simple-user-capabilities/Verify Fix Applied:
Verify the plugin is no longer listed in active plugins and the plugin directory has been removed from wp-content/plugins/📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to WordPress admin-ajax.php or admin-post.php with 'suc_submit_capabilities' parameter
- Sudden creation of new administrator accounts
- User role changes from subscriber/author to administrator
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests containing 'action=suc_submit_capabilities' or similar parameters
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.logs" AND ("suc_submit_capabilities" OR "user_role_changed" AND "administrator")