The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-13403 affects the 'Employee Spotlight – Team Member Showcase & Meet the Team' WordPress plugin developed by emarket-design. It is classified under CWE-862, indicating a missing authorization issue. Specifically, the employee_spotlight_check_optin() function lacks proper authorization validation, enabling any authenticated user with Subscriber-level privileges or higher to alter tracking settings within the plugin. Since WordPress Subscriber roles are typically assigned to users with minimal privileges, this vulnerability significantly lowers the bar for exploitation. Attackers can remotely invoke this function without requiring additional user interaction, making the attack vector straightforward. The impact is limited to integrity, as unauthorized users can enable or disable tracking features, potentially manipulating data collection or privacy settings. Confidentiality and availability remain unaffected. The vulnerability is present in all plugin versions up to 5.1.3, with no current patches available and no known exploits in the wild. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.3, reflecting medium severity due to the ease of exploitation and limited impact scope. Organizations using this plugin should be aware of the risk of unauthorized tracking configuration changes that could lead to privacy compliance issues or inaccurate analytics data.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to data integrity and privacy compliance. Unauthorized modification of tracking settings could lead to the collection of user data without proper consent or the disabling of tracking mechanisms, affecting analytics and monitoring capabilities. This can result in non-compliance with GDPR and other regional data protection laws, potentially leading to regulatory fines and reputational damage. Since the vulnerability can be exploited by low-privilege authenticated users, insider threats or compromised accounts pose a significant risk. The impact on availability and confidentiality is minimal; however, the manipulation of tracking settings could indirectly affect security monitoring or user trust. Organizations relying on this plugin for employee showcases or team pages should assess their exposure and the sensitivity of data collected through tracking features.

1. Monitor for plugin updates from emarket-design and apply patches promptly once available. 2. Restrict Subscriber-level user registrations and review user roles to minimize the number of users with access to the vulnerable functionality. 3. Implement additional access control mechanisms at the WordPress level, such as role-based access control plugins, to prevent unauthorized users from modifying plugin settings. 4. Audit and monitor changes to tracking settings regularly to detect unauthorized modifications early. 5. Consider disabling the tracking features of the plugin if they are not essential until a patch is released. 6. Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious requests targeting the employee_spotlight_check_optin() function. 7. Educate administrators and users about the risk of privilege escalation and the importance of strong authentication practices to prevent account compromise.