CVE-2025-49867
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2025-49867 is an incorrect privilege assignment vulnerability in the RealHomes WordPress theme that allows attackers to escalate privileges to administrator level. This affects all WordPress sites using RealHomes theme versions up to 4.4.0. Attackers could gain full control of vulnerable WordPress installations.
💻 Affected Systems
- InspiryThemes RealHomes WordPress Theme
📦 What is this software?
Realhomes by Inspirythemes
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete site takeover with administrative access, allowing content modification, plugin/theme installation, user creation, and potential server compromise through additional exploits.
Likely Case
Attacker gains administrator privileges, modifies site content, steals sensitive data, installs backdoors, or uses the site for further attacks.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if proper access controls, monitoring, and least privilege principles are already implemented.
🎯 Exploit Status
Privilege escalation vulnerabilities in WordPress themes are commonly exploited. Requires some level of access but minimal technical skill.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 4.4.1 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://patchstack.com/database/wordpress/theme/realhomes/vulnerability/wordpress-realhomes-4-4-0-privilege-escalation-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Appearance > Themes. 3. Check for RealHomes theme update notification. 4. Update to version 4.4.1 or later. 5. Clear any caching plugins/CDN caches.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Temporary Theme Deactivation
allSwitch to default WordPress theme until patch can be applied
wp theme activate twentytwentyfour
User Role Restrictions
allTemporarily restrict user registration and review existing user roles
wp option update users_can_register 0
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict access controls and monitor user privilege changes
- Deploy web application firewall rules to detect privilege escalation attempts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Appearance > Themes for RealHomes version. If version is 4.4.0 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
wp theme list --name=realhomes --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify RealHomes theme version is 4.4.1 or later in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected user role changes in WordPress logs
- Administrator account creation from non-admin users
- Theme/plugin installation from newly created admin accounts
Network Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to wp-admin/user-new.php or similar endpoints
- Requests modifying user capabilities
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("user_role_changed" OR "new_admin_user" OR "capabilities modified")