CVE-2025-10249 is a relative path traversal vulnerability categorized under CWE-23 found in the Slider Revolution plugin for WordPress, a widely used tool for creating sliders and interactive content on websites. The vulnerability exists in all versions up to and including 6.7.37 due to missing capability checks on several critical functions. Specifically, the plugin fails to verify whether the authenticated user has sufficient permissions before allowing actions such as installing and activating plugin add-ons, creating sliders, and downloading arbitrary files from the server. This flaw enables attackers with Contributor-level access or higher to escalate their privileges within the plugin context, bypassing intended restrictions. The path traversal aspect allows attackers to specify file paths outside the intended directories, potentially accessing sensitive files on the web server. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.5 (medium), reflecting that the attack vector is network-based, requires low attack complexity, and privileges at the Contributor level, but does not require user interaction. The impact primarily affects confidentiality as attackers can download arbitrary files, but it does not directly affect integrity or availability. No patches were linked at the time of publication, and no known exploits have been reported in the wild. The vulnerability was reserved on 2025-09-10 and published on 2025-10-09 by Wordfence. Given the popularity of Slider Revolution in WordPress ecosystems, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to websites that allow multiple contributors or editors, especially if role permissions are not tightly controlled.

For European organizations, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information stored on web servers hosting WordPress sites with the vulnerable Slider Revolution plugin. Attackers with Contributor-level access—often granted to content creators or editors—can exploit this flaw to download arbitrary files, potentially exposing configuration files, credentials, or other sensitive data. This could facilitate further attacks such as credential theft, lateral movement, or website defacement. The risk is heightened in organizations with collaborative content management workflows where multiple users have elevated privileges. Confidentiality breaches could impact customer data privacy, intellectual property, and compliance with regulations such as GDPR. Although the vulnerability does not directly affect data integrity or availability, the unauthorized file access could be leveraged to plan more damaging attacks. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers may develop exploits post-disclosure. Organizations relying heavily on WordPress for public-facing or internal sites should consider this a significant concern.

1. Immediately restrict Contributor-level and higher access to trusted users only, minimizing the number of users who can exploit this vulnerability. 2. Monitor user activity logs for unusual plugin installation or activation attempts and unexpected file download requests. 3. Implement strict file system permissions on the web server to limit access to sensitive files, reducing the impact of arbitrary file downloads. 4. Once available, promptly apply official patches or updates from the Slider Revolution plugin vendor to address the missing capability checks. 5. Consider deploying a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with custom rules to detect and block path traversal attempts targeting the plugin endpoints. 6. Conduct regular security audits of WordPress user roles and permissions to ensure least privilege principles are enforced. 7. Educate content contributors about the risks of elevated privileges and encourage reporting of suspicious plugin behavior. 8. If patching is delayed, temporarily disable the Slider Revolution plugin on non-critical sites or restrict access to the WordPress admin interface via IP whitelisting.