CVE-2025-1528 in Search & Filter Pro Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 03/14/2025
The Search & Filter Pro plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access of data due to a missing capability check on the 'get_meta_values' function in all versions up to, and including, 2.5.19. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to read the values of arbitrary post meta.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/14/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-1528 affects the Search & Filter Pro plugin for WordPress, representing a critical authorization flaw that undermines the security model of the platform. This issue stems from a missing capability check within the plugin's codebase, specifically targeting the 'get_meta_values' function that has remained unpatched through all versions up to and including 2.5.19. The flaw allows attackers who have already gained subscriber-level access or higher to exploit this weakness and extract arbitrary post meta values from the WordPress installation, effectively bypassing the intended access controls that should protect sensitive data.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a classic insufficient privilege check vulnerability, which aligns with CWE-284 access control weakness category. The plugin fails to properly validate whether the authenticated user possesses adequate permissions to access specific meta values, creating an unauthorized data access vector that operates at the application level. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability by crafting requests that target the 'get_meta_values' endpoint, enabling them to retrieve meta data that should typically be restricted to administrators or users with specific capabilities. This flaw particularly affects WordPress environments where multiple user roles exist, as it allows lower-privilege users to escalate their access to sensitive information.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as post meta values often contain sensitive configuration data, user preferences, or potentially confidential business information. Attackers with subscriber-level access can exploit this weakness to gather intelligence about the site's structure, user behavior patterns, or internal system configurations that could facilitate further attacks. The vulnerability affects all WordPress installations using the affected plugin version, making it particularly dangerous in environments where multiple users have subscriber accounts or where user registration is open. This could enable attackers to perform reconnaissance activities that might lead to more severe exploitation attempts, including privilege escalation or data exfiltration.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigations including updating to the latest plugin version that addresses this capability check deficiency, as well as monitoring for unauthorized access attempts to meta data endpoints. Organizations should also consider implementing additional access controls and network segmentation to limit the impact of compromised subscriber accounts. The vulnerability represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege, as defined by security frameworks and aligns with tactics described in the attack pattern taxonomy where adversaries attempt to gain access to sensitive information through application-level flaws. Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments should include checks for similar capability check failures in WordPress plugins to prevent similar issues from occurring in other third-party components.