Prevent Direct Access Plugin up to 2.8.8.2 on WordPress pda_lite_custom_permission_check improper authorization

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Prevent Direct Access Plugin up to 2.8.8.2 on WordPress. It has been classified as critical. This vulnerability affects the function pda_lite_custom_permission_check. This manipulation causes improper authorization. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-3861. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Prevent Direct Access Plugin up to 2.8.8.2 on WordPress. Affected by this vulnerability is the function pda_lite_custom_permission_check. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a improper authorization vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-285. The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

The Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access and modification of data| due to a misconfigured capability check on the 'pda_lite_custom_permission_check' function in versions 2.8.6 to 2.8.8.2. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to access and change the protection status of media.

It is possible to read the advisory at wordfence.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-3861 since 04/21/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 04/25/2025). The attack technique deployed by this issue is T1548.002 according to MITRE ATT&CK.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• WordPress Plugin

Name

• Prevent Direct Access Plugin

Version

• 2.8.8.0
• 2.8.8.1
• 2.8.8.2

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CPE 2.2info

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