CVE-2025-48246 in Events Calendar Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 05/19/2025
Missing Authorization vulnerability in The Events Calendar The Events Calendar allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels. This issue affects The Events Calendar: from n/a through 6.11.2.1.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/19/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-48246 represents a critical missing authorization flaw within The Events Calendar plugin, a widely used WordPress event management solution. This security weakness stems from incorrectly configured access control security levels that fail to properly validate user permissions before granting access to sensitive administrative functions. The vulnerability impacts versions ranging from an unspecified initial release through 6.11.2.1, indicating a prolonged period during which the plugin remained susceptible to exploitation. The Events Calendar plugin serves as a cornerstone for event management across numerous WordPress installations, making this authorization bypass particularly concerning for organizations relying on proper access controls for their digital event platforms.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability manifests through inadequate validation of user roles and permissions within the plugin's access control mechanisms. Attackers can exploit this flaw to gain unauthorized access to administrative features that should only be available to privileged users with proper authorization levels. This misconfiguration allows unauthenticated or low-privileged users to perform actions typically restricted to administrators, including but not limited to modifying event data, accessing private event information, managing plugin settings, and potentially executing arbitrary code within the constraints of the plugin's functionality. The flaw operates at the application level, where proper authorization checks are either absent or incorrectly implemented, creating a pathway for privilege escalation attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, potentially enabling attackers to compromise entire event management systems within WordPress installations. Organizations using The Events Calendar plugin may find their event data exposed to unauthorized modification or disclosure, leading to potential reputational damage, loss of sensitive event information, and disruption of business operations. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple versions suggests that administrators may have been unknowingly exposed to risk for extended periods, with the potential for attackers to systematically target installations running affected versions. This exposure could result in unauthorized event creation, modification of event details, or access to attendee information, depending on the specific implementation of the access control mechanisms within the plugin.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2025-48246 should prioritize immediate version updates to the latest available release of The Events Calendar plugin, as this represents the most direct solution to address the incorrectly configured access control security levels. System administrators should implement comprehensive access control reviews to ensure proper user role assignments and monitor for unauthorized access attempts within their WordPress environments. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network-level controls such as web application firewalls to detect and prevent exploitation attempts, while maintaining detailed audit logs of administrative activities to identify potential unauthorized access. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues, and may be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and privilege escalation, highlighting the need for comprehensive security monitoring and access control validation. Organizations should also conduct thorough security assessments of their WordPress installations to identify similar authorization flaws in other plugins or themes that could present analogous risks to their digital infrastructure.