CVE-2025-11377 is an information exposure vulnerability classified under CWE-200 affecting the 'List category posts' WordPress plugin developed by fernandobt. The flaw exists in all versions up to and including 0.92.0 and arises from insufficient access control on the 'catlist' shortcode functionality. This shortcode is intended to list posts from specified categories but fails to properly restrict access to posts that are password protected, private, or in draft status. As a result, authenticated users with contributor-level permissions or higher can exploit this vulnerability to retrieve content from posts they should not be authorized to view. The vulnerability is remotely exploitable over the network without requiring user interaction. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.3, reflecting a medium severity primarily due to the limited impact on confidentiality and the requirement for authenticated access. There is no impact on integrity or availability. No patches or fixes are currently linked, and no known exploits have been reported in the wild. The vulnerability highlights a common issue in WordPress plugins where access control checks are insufficiently enforced on content retrieval mechanisms, potentially leading to unauthorized data disclosure within multi-user environments.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk to the confidentiality of sensitive or unpublished content managed within WordPress sites using the affected plugin. Organizations that rely on WordPress for content management and have multiple contributors or editors are particularly vulnerable, as these roles have sufficient privileges to exploit the flaw. Exposure of private or draft content could lead to premature disclosure of strategic information, intellectual property, or personal data, potentially violating GDPR requirements and damaging organizational reputation. While the vulnerability does not affect system integrity or availability, unauthorized data exposure can have legal and compliance ramifications under European data protection laws. The risk is heightened in sectors such as media, government, education, and enterprises with collaborative content workflows. Since exploitation requires authenticated access, insider threats or compromised contributor accounts represent the primary attack vectors.

European organizations should implement the following specific mitigations: 1) Immediately audit and restrict contributor and editor privileges to the minimum necessary, ensuring only trusted users have such access. 2) Monitor usage of the 'catlist' shortcode in posts and pages to detect unusual or unauthorized queries that could indicate exploitation attempts. 3) Temporarily disable or remove the 'List category posts' plugin if it is not essential to reduce the attack surface. 4) Apply strict content access policies and consider additional plugin or custom code to enforce access controls on post visibility beyond WordPress defaults. 5) Stay alert for official patches or updates from the plugin developer and apply them promptly once released. 6) Conduct regular security reviews of WordPress plugins and user roles to identify and mitigate similar risks. 7) Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules to detect and block suspicious shortcode parameter usage patterns. These measures go beyond generic advice by focusing on role management, monitoring shortcode usage, and proactive plugin management tailored to this vulnerability.