CVE-2025-13354 in Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 12/03/2025
The Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – AI Autotagger with OpenAI plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass in all versions up to, and including, 3.40.1. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action in the "taxopress_merge_terms_batch" function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber level access and above, to merge or delete arbitrary taxonomy terms.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/03/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-13354 affects the Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager plugin for WordPress, specifically targeting versions up to and including 3.40.1. This represents a critical authorization bypass flaw that undermines the security model of the WordPress platform by allowing unauthorized actions through a legitimate plugin function. The vulnerability stems from insufficient access control verification within the plugin's codebase, creating a pathway for malicious actors to exploit the system's permission structure.
The technical flaw manifests in the "taxopress_merge_terms_batch" function which fails to properly validate user permissions before executing taxonomy term operations. This function serves as a critical interface for managing taxonomy terms within the WordPress environment, yet lacks proper authentication checks that would normally prevent unauthorized users from performing administrative actions. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects authenticated users with subscriber level access and above, meaning even low-privilege accounts can potentially exploit this flaw to manipulate content structures.
From an operational impact perspective, this authorization bypass allows attackers to perform arbitrary actions on taxonomy terms including merging and deletion operations. Taxonomy terms form the backbone of content organization in WordPress, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can disrupt content categorization, affect search engine optimization, and potentially compromise the integrity of the entire content management system. The ability to merge terms can lead to data loss or corruption, while deletion operations can remove critical categorization elements that users rely upon for content navigation and organization.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues in software systems, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1078.004 related to valid accounts and privilege escalation. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to move laterally within the WordPress environment, potentially gaining access to additional administrative functions or exploiting the compromised taxonomy terms to manipulate content in more sophisticated ways. The impact extends beyond immediate term manipulation as taxonomy structures often feed into various site functionalities including widgets, archives, and content filtering mechanisms.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including updating to the latest plugin version where this vulnerability has been addressed, implementing additional access controls through WordPress role management, and monitoring for unauthorized taxonomy modifications. Security professionals should also consider implementing network-level monitoring to detect unusual patterns in taxonomy term operations and establish automated alerting for critical administrative functions. The vulnerability underscores the importance of proper input validation and access control implementation in plugin development, particularly for functions that handle data manipulation and organizational structures within content management systems.