The vulnerability CVE-2025-11707 affects the Login Lockdown & Protection plugin for WordPress, developed by webfactory. This plugin is designed to protect WordPress sites by blocking IP addresses after multiple failed login attempts to prevent brute force attacks. The core issue lies in the generation of the $unblock_key, which is used to unblock IP addresses after they have been locked out. The $unblock_key is generated using insufficiently random values, classified under CWE-330 (Use of Insufficiently Random Values). Because of this weak randomness, an attacker who knows an administrative user's email address can predict or generate valid unblock keys for their own IP address without authentication. This allows the attacker to bypass the IP block that would normally prevent further login attempts from their IP, effectively circumventing the plugin's protection mechanism. The vulnerability affects all versions of the plugin up to and including version 2.14. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.3, indicating a medium severity level. The vector indicates the attack can be performed remotely over the network (AV:N), requires no privileges (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), and impacts integrity (I:L) but not confidentiality or availability. No known exploits have been reported in the wild as of the publication date. The vulnerability was reserved on 2025-10-13 and published on 2025-12-13. No official patch links are currently available, suggesting a patch is pending or in development.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to the integrity of login security on WordPress sites using the affected plugin. Attackers can bypass IP-based lockout mechanisms designed to prevent brute force attacks, potentially allowing repeated unauthorized login attempts. While the vulnerability does not directly expose confidential data or cause denial of service, it weakens a critical security control, increasing the risk of successful credential compromise. Organizations relying on this plugin for login protection may experience increased brute force attack success rates, leading to unauthorized access to administrative accounts. This can result in website defacement, data manipulation, or further compromise of internal systems if the WordPress site is integrated with other enterprise resources. The impact is particularly significant for organizations with public-facing WordPress sites that handle sensitive user data or provide critical services. Given the ease of exploitation (no authentication or user interaction required), the threat is accessible to a wide range of attackers, including automated bots. However, the requirement to know an administrative user's email somewhat limits the attack surface. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not preclude future exploitation.

1. Monitor for and apply official patches from webfactory as soon as they are released to address the insufficient randomness in unblock key generation. 2. Until a patch is available, implement compensating controls such as: - Deploying Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with rules to detect and block suspicious login attempts and IP unblock key usage patterns. - Enhancing network-level IP blocking and rate limiting to supplement plugin controls. - Restricting administrative user email exposure on public-facing pages and communications to reduce attacker knowledge. 3. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all administrative WordPress accounts to mitigate risks from brute force attacks. 4. Conduct regular security audits and monitoring of login attempts and unblock key usage logs to detect anomalous behavior. 5. Educate administrators on the risks of email exposure and encourage use of unique, hard-to-guess administrative emails. 6. Consider temporarily disabling the plugin if the risk outweighs its benefits and alternative protections are in place. 7. Review and harden WordPress security configurations, including limiting login attempts through other plugins or server-level controls.