CVE-2025-66106 in Featured Post Creative Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 11/21/2025
Missing Authorization vulnerability in Essential Plugin Featured Post Creative featured-post-creative allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects Featured Post Creative: from n/a through <= 1.5.5.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/01/2025
This vulnerability represents a critical missing authorization flaw in the Essential Plugin Featured Post Creative WordPress plugin, specifically impacting versions through 1.5.5. The issue stems from incorrectly configured access control security levels that fail to properly validate user permissions before executing sensitive operations. Attackers can exploit this weakness to bypass intended authorization checks and gain unauthorized access to administrative functions or data that should be restricted to privileged users only. The vulnerability exists within the plugin's core access control mechanisms, where proper validation of user roles and capabilities is either absent or improperly implemented, creating a pathway for unauthorized privilege escalation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability manifests through insufficient input validation and access control checks within the plugin's codebase. When users interact with featured post creative functionality, the system fails to verify whether the requesting user possesses the necessary permissions to perform the requested action. This misconfiguration allows unauthenticated or low-privilege users to execute administrative operations that should be restricted to administrators or authorized personnel. The flaw typically occurs in areas where the plugin handles user requests for post management, featured content configuration, or plugin settings modifications without proper capability checks. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization within software systems, and specifically relates to improper access control mechanisms that fail to enforce security policies correctly.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it can enable attackers to manipulate featured content, modify plugin configurations, or potentially gain full administrative control of affected WordPress installations. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could alter featured post displays, modify content presentation settings, or even inject malicious code through compromised plugin functionality. The affected environment becomes vulnerable to data manipulation, content tampering, and potential lateral movement within the WordPress ecosystem. This weakness particularly affects websites using the Essential Plugin Featured Post Creative plugin, where attackers can leverage the missing authorization checks to compromise the integrity and availability of featured content management systems.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of the affected plugin to version 1.5.6 or later, which includes proper access control validation and authorization checks. Administrators should also implement additional security measures such as regular plugin updates, security audits of installed plugins, and monitoring for unauthorized access attempts. The WordPress security team recommends conducting thorough vulnerability assessments of all installed plugins to identify similar access control issues. Organizations should also enforce the principle of least privilege, ensuring that users have only the minimum permissions necessary for their roles. This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper access control implementation and highlights the need for continuous security testing of web applications to prevent exploitation of authorization flaws that could lead to complete system compromise. Security professionals should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring solutions to detect and prevent exploitation attempts targeting such access control vulnerabilities.