CVE-2025-12788
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to bypass payment requirements in the Hydra Booking WordPress plugin. Attackers can confirm bookings as paid without making actual payments by manipulating payment confirmation data. All WordPress sites using vulnerable versions of this plugin are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Hydra Booking — Appointment Scheduling & Booking Calendar plugin for WordPress
⚠️ 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
Attackers could book premium services without payment, causing financial loss to businesses and potentially overwhelming booking systems with fraudulent reservations.
Likely Case
Attackers exploit the vulnerability to obtain paid services for free, resulting in direct revenue loss for businesses using the booking system.
If Mitigated
With proper payment verification and monitoring, fraudulent bookings can be detected and reversed before causing significant financial impact.
🎯 Exploit Status
The vulnerability is straightforward to exploit as it involves sending manipulated payment confirmation data without authentication.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.1.28
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find Hydra Booking plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if update is available. 5. If no update appears, manually download version 1.1.28 from WordPress repository and replace plugin files.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable vulnerable callback endpoint
allBlock access to the vulnerable payment confirmation callback function via web server configuration
# For Apache: add to .htaccess
RewriteRule ^wp-content/plugins/hydra-booking.*tfhb_meeting_paypal_payment_confirmation_callback - [F]
# For Nginx: add to server block
location ~* /wp-content/plugins/hydra-booking.*tfhb_meeting_paypal_payment_confirmation_callback { deny all; }
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Temporarily disable the Hydra Booking plugin until patching is possible
- Implement manual payment verification for all bookings and disable automated payment confirmation
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Installed Plugins → Hydra Booking version. If version is 1.1.27 or lower, the site is vulnerable.Check Version:
# Check via WordPress CLI
wp plugin get hydra-booking --field=version
# Or check file directly
cat /path/to/wp-content/plugins/hydra-booking/hydra-booking.php | grep 'Version:'Verify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify plugin version shows 1.1.28 or higher in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple booking confirmations without corresponding payment gateway logs
- Booking confirmations from unusual IP addresses or user agents
- Booking confirmations with manipulated payment IDs or timestamps
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests to /wp-content/plugins/hydra-booking/* containing payment confirmation parameters
- Requests to booking confirmation endpoints without preceding payment gateway callbacks
SIEM Query:
source="web_server_logs" AND (uri="*tfhb_meeting_paypal_payment_confirmation_callback*" OR uri="*hydra-booking*payment*confirmation*") AND status=200🔗 References
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3392864/hydra-booking/tags/1.1.28/app/Shortcode/HydraBookingShortcode.php?old=3392467&old_path=hydra-booking%2Ftags%2F1.1.27%2Fapp%2FShortcode%2FHydraBookingShortcode.php
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/b49ce4a2-52ad-4824-86fc-5edd2e33802d?source=cve
