CVE-2025-12367
📋 TL;DR
The SiteSEO WordPress plugin up to version 1.3.1 has a missing authorization vulnerability that allows authenticated attackers with Author-level access or higher to enable or disable arbitrary SiteSEO features they shouldn't have access to. This affects WordPress sites using vulnerable versions of the SiteSEO plugin.
💻 Affected Systems
- SiteSEO – SEO Simplified 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
An attacker could disable critical SEO features, modify site settings, or potentially chain with other vulnerabilities to escalate privileges or cause site disruption.
Likely Case
Author-level users could tamper with SEO configurations, potentially harming search rankings or breaking site functionality.
If Mitigated
With proper role-based access controls and monitoring, impact would be limited to unauthorized feature toggling by already-privileged users.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access with Author privileges or higher. The vulnerability is in the ajax.php file where authorization checks are missing.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.3.2 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3387094/siteseo/trunk/main/ajax.php?contextall=1
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find SiteSEO plugin and click 'Update Now'. 4. Verify plugin version is 1.3.2 or higher.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Temporary plugin deactivation
allDisable the SiteSEO plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate siteseo
Role restriction
linuxTemporarily restrict Author-level users from accessing the site
wp user list --role=author --field=ID | xargs wp user set-role subscriber
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Remove Author and higher role access for untrusted users
- Implement web application firewall rules to block suspicious ajax.php requests
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → SiteSEO version. If version is 1.3.1 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get siteseo --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify SiteSEO plugin version is 1.3.2 or higher in WordPress admin.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with 'action' parameter related to SiteSEO
- Multiple failed authorization attempts from Author-level users
Network Indicators:
- Suspicious AJAX calls to SiteSEO endpoints from non-admin users
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND "admin-ajax.php" AND "siteseo" AND ("action=enable" OR "action=disable")