CVE-2025-2237 in WP RealEstate Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/01/2025
The WP RealEstate plugin for WordPress, used by the Homeo theme, is vulnerable to authentication bypass in all versions up to, and including, 1.6.26. This is due to insufficient role restrictions in the 'process_register' function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to register an account with the Administrator role.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/01/2025
The WP RealEstate plugin presents a critical authentication bypass vulnerability that undermines the security posture of WordPress installations utilizing the Homeo theme. This flaw exists within the plugin's 'process_register' function where inadequate role validation permits unauthorized users to escalate their privileges during the registration process. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 1.6.26, making it a persistent threat across a significant portion of the plugin's user base. The issue stems from the plugin's failure to properly validate user roles during account creation, allowing malicious actors to manipulate registration parameters and gain administrative access to the system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a clear failure in input validation and privilege enforcement mechanisms. The 'process_register' function does not adequately sanitize or verify role parameters submitted during user registration, creating an entry point for attackers to specify administrative privileges. This weakness aligns with CWE-285, which addresses insufficient authorization checks, and represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege. The vulnerability operates at the application logic level, where the plugin's registration flow fails to enforce proper access controls that should prevent unauthenticated users from assuming elevated roles within the WordPress ecosystem.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple privilege escalation, as it provides attackers with complete administrative control over affected WordPress installations. Once an attacker successfully registers an account with administrator privileges, they can modify site content, install malicious plugins, access sensitive data, and potentially use the compromised system as a launchpad for further attacks within the network. This represents a severe risk to website owners and their users, as the attacker can manipulate the entire website infrastructure without detection. The vulnerability also creates opportunities for data exfiltration, defacement, and potential use in botnet activities, making it particularly dangerous for commercial and enterprise deployments.
Organizations utilizing the WP RealEstate plugin must implement immediate remediation measures to address this vulnerability. The primary mitigation involves updating to the latest version of the plugin where the authentication bypass has been patched. Security administrators should also consider implementing additional protective measures such as monitoring registration activities for suspicious role assignments and implementing rate limiting on registration endpoints. From a defense-in-depth perspective, this vulnerability highlights the importance of proper access control implementation and input validation, principles that align with ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential harvesting. Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments should be conducted to identify similar privilege escalation vectors within other WordPress plugins and themes, as this type of vulnerability commonly occurs in complex web applications where role-based access controls are not properly enforced.