CVE-2025-13559 is a critical security vulnerability found in the EduKart Pro plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 1.0.3. The root cause is improper privilege management (CWE-269) in the 'edukart_pro_register_user_front_end' function, which fails to restrict the user roles that can be assigned during front-end user registration. This flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to specify the 'administrator' role when registering a new user account, effectively granting themselves full administrative privileges on the WordPress site. The vulnerability requires no authentication or user interaction, making it trivially exploitable remotely. The impact is severe, as attackers can gain full control over the affected WordPress site, leading to complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 9.8, indicating a critical severity level with network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, and no user interaction needed. Although no public exploits have been reported yet, the simplicity of exploitation and the high value of administrative access make this vulnerability a prime target for attackers. The vulnerability affects all versions of EduKart Pro up to 1.0.3, and no official patches or updates have been linked yet. Organizations using this plugin, especially in educational contexts, should consider immediate mitigation steps to prevent exploitation.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability is substantial. EduKart Pro is used primarily in educational and e-learning environments, which often handle sensitive student data, intellectual property, and internal communications. An attacker gaining administrator access can manipulate course content, steal personal data, inject malicious code, or disrupt service availability. This could lead to data breaches violating GDPR regulations, reputational damage, and operational downtime. Educational institutions and ed-tech companies in Europe are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous. The ability to exploit this flaw without authentication or user interaction increases the risk of widespread automated attacks. Additionally, compromised WordPress sites can be used as pivot points for further attacks within organizational networks, amplifying the potential damage.

Immediate mitigation should include disabling the EduKart Pro plugin until a vendor patch is released. Administrators should audit user roles and remove any unauthorized administrator accounts created via this vulnerability. Implement web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to block suspicious registration attempts that specify elevated roles. Restrict user registration functionality to trusted users or disable front-end registration if not required. Monitor logs for unusual registration patterns or privilege escalations. Organizations should also maintain regular backups and ensure rapid restoration capabilities. Once a patch is available, it must be applied promptly. Additionally, consider deploying multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all administrator accounts to reduce the impact of compromised credentials. Security teams should conduct penetration testing focused on privilege escalation vectors in WordPress plugins.