The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-14455 affects the 'Image Photo Gallery Final Tiles Grid' WordPress plugin developed by wpchill. This plugin is widely used to manage photo galleries on WordPress sites. The core issue is a missing authorization check (CWE-862) that allows authenticated users with Contributor-level permissions or higher to bypass intended access controls. Specifically, the plugin fails to verify whether the user is authorized to perform sensitive gallery management functions such as deleting, modifying, or cloning galleries. Consequently, an attacker with legitimate Contributor access can manipulate galleries created by any user, including administrators, potentially disrupting website content and operations. The vulnerability affects all plugin versions up to and including 3.6.7. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.4, indicating a medium severity level, with attack vector being network-based, low attack complexity, requiring privileges (Contributor or above), no user interaction, and impacting integrity and availability but not confidentiality. No patches were linked at the time of disclosure, and no active exploits have been reported. The vulnerability is significant because Contributor-level users are commonly granted on WordPress sites to allow content creation without full administrative rights, and this flaw elevates their capabilities to unauthorized gallery management actions. This can lead to defacement, content loss, or unauthorized content duplication, undermining trust and site functionality.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to the integrity and availability of website content managed via WordPress using the affected plugin. Organizations relying on WordPress for marketing, communications, or e-commerce that utilize the Image Photo Gallery Final Tiles Grid plugin may experience unauthorized content modifications or deletions, potentially damaging brand reputation and user trust. Since the vulnerability requires only Contributor-level access, insider threats or compromised contributor accounts can be leveraged to exploit this flaw. The impact is heightened for organizations with multiple contributors or external content creators. While confidentiality is not directly affected, the disruption to content integrity and availability can lead to operational downtime, increased incident response costs, and potential regulatory scrutiny if content tampering affects compliance-related information. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers may develop exploits post-disclosure. European organizations with public-facing WordPress sites should prioritize assessment and mitigation to prevent exploitation.

1. Immediately audit WordPress sites for the presence of the Image Photo Gallery Final Tiles Grid plugin and identify versions up to 3.6.7. 2. Restrict Contributor-level permissions where possible, limiting gallery management capabilities to trusted roles only. 3. Implement strict role-based access controls (RBAC) and consider temporarily disabling the plugin if feasible until a patch is available. 4. Monitor logs and user activities related to gallery management functions for suspicious actions, especially deletions or modifications initiated by Contributors. 5. Apply vendor patches or updates promptly once released; if no patch is available, consider alternative gallery plugins with proper authorization controls. 6. Educate content contributors about the risk of account compromise and enforce strong authentication mechanisms, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA). 7. Regularly back up website content, including galleries, to enable quick restoration in case of unauthorized changes. 8. Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block unauthorized gallery management requests from lower-privileged users.