CVE-2025-2104
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in the Pagelayer WordPress plugin allows authenticated users with Contributor-level access or higher to bypass post moderation and publish unauthorized content. It affects all WordPress sites using Pagelayer plugin versions up to 1.9.8. The issue stems from insufficient validation in the pagelayer_save_content() function.
💻 Affected Systems
- Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder plugin for WordPress
📦 What is this software?
Pagelayer by Pagelayer
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could publish malicious content, spam, or inappropriate material that damages site reputation, SEO, and user trust. Could lead to content-based attacks against site visitors.
Likely Case
Contributors or authors publishing unauthorized content, potentially including spam, inappropriate material, or SEO manipulation content.
If Mitigated
Limited to authorized users only, with proper content review processes catching unauthorized publications before they go live.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access with at least Contributor privileges. The vulnerability is straightforward to exploit once authenticated.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Version 1.9.9 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&old=3253356%40pagelayer&new=3253356%40pagelayer&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Page Builder: Pagelayer' and click 'Update Now'. 4. Alternatively, download version 1.9.9+ from WordPress plugin repository and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Temporarily disable plugin
allDeactivate Pagelayer plugin until patched version can be installed
wp plugin deactivate pagelayer
Restrict user roles
allTemporarily remove Contributor and Author roles or limit their permissions
wp user list --role=contributor --field=ID
wp user set-role <user_id> subscriber
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict content moderation workflow requiring editor/admin approval for all posts
- Monitor user activity logs for unauthorized post publications and implement alerting
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Installed Plugins → Page Builder: Pagelayer version. If version is 1.9.8 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get pagelayer --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify plugin version is 1.9.9 or higher in WordPress admin panel. Test that Contributor users cannot publish posts without proper moderation.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unauthorized post publications by Contributor/Authors
- Multiple rapid post publications from single user
- Posts published outside normal workflow
Network Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to pagelayer_save_content endpoint from Contributor-level users
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" action="post_published" user_role="contributor" OR user_role="author"