The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-11377 affects the 'List category posts' WordPress plugin developed by fernandobt, specifically all versions up to and including 0.92.0. The issue is categorized under CWE-200, which involves the exposure of sensitive information to unauthorized actors. The root cause lies in the 'catlist' shortcode functionality, which is designed to display posts from specified categories. Due to insufficient access control checks, authenticated users with contributor-level permissions or higher can manipulate the shortcode to include posts that are normally restricted, such as password-protected, private, or draft posts. This bypasses WordPress's standard content visibility restrictions, allowing unauthorized reading of sensitive content. The vulnerability requires the attacker to have at least contributor-level access, which is a relatively low privilege level in WordPress, making exploitation feasible in environments where such user roles are assigned. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N) indicates network attack vector, low attack complexity, privileges required, no user interaction, unchanged scope, and limited confidentiality impact without integrity or availability effects. No patches or exploit code are currently publicly available, but the vulnerability is published and should be addressed promptly. The plugin is widely used in WordPress sites for content management, making this a relevant concern for many organizations relying on WordPress for their web presence.

For European organizations, the primary impact of this vulnerability is unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential information stored in WordPress posts that are intended to be restricted. This could include internal communications, draft content, or password-protected data that may contain business-sensitive information or personal data protected under GDPR. Exposure of such data could lead to reputational damage, regulatory penalties, and loss of trust. Since the vulnerability requires contributor-level access, the risk is heightened in environments where multiple users have such privileges, including agencies, media companies, educational institutions, and government bodies using WordPress. The vulnerability does not affect data integrity or availability, so the impact is limited to confidentiality breaches. However, the ease of exploitation via network and the common use of the affected plugin increase the likelihood of targeted attacks. Organizations with strict data protection requirements must consider this vulnerability a significant risk to their information security posture.

To mitigate CVE-2025-11377, organizations should first verify if they use the 'List category posts' plugin and identify the installed version. Immediate mitigation includes restricting contributor-level access to only trusted users and auditing user roles to minimize unnecessary privileges. If possible, disable the 'catlist' shortcode or the plugin entirely until a patched version is released. Implementing web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious shortcode usage patterns can provide temporary protection. Monitoring WordPress logs for unusual shortcode queries or access patterns by contributors can help detect exploitation attempts. Organizations should also ensure WordPress core and all plugins are regularly updated and subscribe to vulnerability advisories for timely patching once a fix is available. Additionally, consider hardening WordPress configurations to enforce stricter content access controls and review content classification to avoid storing highly sensitive data in draft or password-protected posts accessible via plugins.