CVE-2025-12086 is an authorization bypass vulnerability identified in the Return Refund and Exchange For WooCommerce plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 4.5.5. The flaw arises from an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability (CWE-639) in the AJAX endpoint 'wps_rma_cancel_return_request', where the plugin fails to properly validate a user-controlled key parameter. This missing validation allows authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level privileges or higher to manipulate the key parameter to delete refund requests submitted by other users. The vulnerability does not require elevated privileges beyond Subscriber, nor does it require user interaction, making it relatively easy to exploit in environments where the plugin is installed and users have at least minimal authenticated access. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 4.3 (medium severity), reflecting the limited impact on confidentiality and availability but a clear impact on data integrity. The vulnerability could disrupt business processes by allowing unauthorized deletion of refund requests, potentially leading to customer dissatisfaction or financial discrepancies. No patches or fixes have been released at the time of publication, and no active exploitation has been reported. The vulnerability was reserved on 2025-10-22 and published on 2025-11-21 by Wordfence. Given the widespread use of WooCommerce in e-commerce, this vulnerability poses a risk to online stores relying on this plugin for refund and exchange management.

For European organizations operating e-commerce platforms using WooCommerce with the vulnerable Return Refund and Exchange plugin, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized deletion of refund requests by low-privilege authenticated users. This undermines the integrity of refund management processes, potentially causing financial loss, customer trust erosion, and operational disruption. While the vulnerability does not expose sensitive data or cause service outages, the ability to manipulate refund requests could be exploited for fraud or to disrupt customer service workflows. Organizations handling large volumes of transactions or with strict regulatory compliance requirements around customer rights and transaction records may face reputational and compliance risks. The impact is particularly relevant for SMEs and larger retailers in Europe that rely on WooCommerce plugins for their refund and exchange operations.

To mitigate this vulnerability, organizations should immediately audit their WooCommerce installations to identify the presence of the Return Refund and Exchange For WooCommerce plugin and its version. Until an official patch is released, administrators should restrict Subscriber-level user capabilities to prevent unauthorized access to refund management features. Implementing additional server-side validation to verify ownership of refund requests before allowing deletion is critical. Employing Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to monitor and block suspicious AJAX requests targeting the 'wps_rma_cancel_return_request' endpoint can reduce exploitation risk. Monitoring logs for unusual refund deletion activity and enforcing strict access control policies on user roles will help detect and prevent abuse. Organizations should subscribe to vendor advisories for timely patch releases and apply updates as soon as they become available. Additionally, consider isolating refund management functions to higher privilege roles until the vulnerability is resolved.