CVE-2025-11620 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) found in the 'Multiple Roles per User' WordPress plugin developed by jemoreto. The flaw exists because the plugin fails to perform adequate capability checks in the 'mrpu_add_multiple_roles_ui' and 'mrpu_save_multiple_user_roles' functions. These functions are responsible for managing user roles within WordPress. The vulnerability allows any authenticated user who has the 'edit_users' capability to arbitrarily modify the roles of any other user on the site. This includes the ability to elevate privileges by assigning the Administrator role to themselves or others, or to reduce the privileges of existing Administrators. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 1.0 of the plugin. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.2, indicating high severity, with an attack vector of network (remote exploitation), low attack complexity, requiring privileges (authenticated user with 'edit_users'), no user interaction, and impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. No patches or fixes are currently linked, and no known exploits have been reported in the wild. The vulnerability poses a significant risk to WordPress sites using this plugin, as it undermines the role-based access control model, potentially leading to full site compromise.

For European organizations, this vulnerability can lead to unauthorized privilege escalation within WordPress sites, resulting in potential full administrative control by malicious insiders or compromised accounts. This can lead to data breaches, defacement, insertion of malicious content, or complete site takeover. Organizations relying on WordPress for critical business functions, e-commerce, or customer engagement face risks to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their web assets. The ability to demote administrators also risks loss of control by legitimate site owners, complicating incident response. Given WordPress's widespread use in Europe, especially among SMEs and public sector entities, exploitation could disrupt services and damage reputations. The vulnerability is particularly impactful in environments where multiple users have 'edit_users' capability, often granted to site managers or HR personnel, increasing the attack surface. The lack of known exploits currently provides a window for mitigation, but the ease of exploitation once credentials are obtained makes this a pressing concern.

1. Immediately audit all users with the 'edit_users' capability and restrict this permission to only the most trusted administrators. 2. Implement strict role assignment policies and monitor logs for any unusual role changes or privilege escalations. 3. Disable or remove the 'Multiple Roles per User' plugin if it is not essential to reduce the attack surface. 4. Apply any available updates or patches from the plugin vendor as soon as they are released. 5. Employ multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all users with elevated privileges to reduce the risk of credential compromise. 6. Use WordPress security plugins that can alert on role changes or suspicious administrative activities. 7. Regularly back up WordPress sites and databases to enable quick recovery in case of compromise. 8. Consider implementing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to detect and block suspicious requests targeting role management endpoints. 9. Educate site administrators and users about the risks of privilege misuse and the importance of secure credential management.