The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-14352 affects the Awesome Hotel Booking plugin for WordPress, specifically in the room-single.php shortcode handler. The root cause is an incorrect authorization design (CWE-863), where the plugin relies exclusively on nonce verification to authorize booking modifications without validating the user's permissions or capabilities. Nonces in WordPress are intended to prevent CSRF attacks but do not authenticate or authorize users. Because the nonce is accessible via the public booking form, an unauthenticated attacker can obtain a valid nonce and submit requests to modify arbitrary booking records. This bypasses intended access controls, allowing unauthorized data manipulation. The vulnerability affects all versions up to 1.0, with no patch currently available. The CVSS 3.1 score of 5.3 reflects that the attack can be performed remotely over the network without authentication or user interaction, with a low attack complexity. The impact is limited to integrity, as confidentiality and availability are not directly affected. No known exploits have been reported in the wild, but the vulnerability presents a clear risk to data integrity on affected sites. The plugin is used primarily by hospitality businesses running WordPress, making them the primary targets. The flaw highlights the importance of combining nonce verification with proper capability checks to enforce authorization in WordPress plugins handling sensitive data.

For European organizations, especially those in the hospitality and tourism sectors using WordPress with the Awesome Hotel Booking plugin, this vulnerability poses a risk of unauthorized modification of booking data. Such unauthorized changes can lead to operational disruptions, customer dissatisfaction, and potential financial losses due to booking errors or fraud. While the vulnerability does not expose confidential data or cause denial of service, the integrity compromise can undermine trust in the booking system and damage brand reputation. Attackers could manipulate booking records to create fake reservations, cancel legitimate bookings, or alter booking details, impacting business operations. Given the widespread use of WordPress in Europe and the importance of the tourism industry in countries like Spain, Italy, France, and Germany, the threat is significant. Additionally, regulatory compliance such as GDPR requires maintaining data integrity, so exploitation could lead to compliance issues. The lack of authentication requirement and ease of exploitation increase the likelihood of attacks if the plugin remains unpatched.

Immediate mitigation steps include disabling or removing the Awesome Hotel Booking plugin until a secure update is released. If disabling is not feasible, restrict access to the booking modification functionality by implementing server-side capability checks that verify user roles and permissions before processing any booking changes. Developers should update the plugin code to combine nonce verification with proper authorization checks using WordPress capability functions such as current_user_can(). Monitoring web server logs and application logs for unusual booking modification requests or patterns can help detect exploitation attempts. Employing Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to block suspicious POST requests targeting the room-single.php endpoint can provide additional protection. Organizations should also ensure WordPress core and all plugins are regularly updated and conduct security audits of custom plugins. Finally, educating site administrators about the risks of using unverified plugins and encouraging the use of plugins from reputable sources can reduce future risks.