CVE-2025-14864 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) found in the Virusdie One-click website security plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 1.1.7. The vulnerability stems from the lack of proper capability checks in the vd_get_apikey function, which is hooked to the WordPress AJAX action wp_ajax_virusdie_apikey. This function allows authenticated users with minimal privileges (Subscriber-level or higher) to retrieve the site's Virusdie API key without additional authorization verification. The API key is a sensitive credential that grants access to the Virusdie service account associated with the website, potentially allowing an attacker to manipulate security settings, disable protections, or perform other malicious actions through the Virusdie platform. The vulnerability requires the attacker to be authenticated on the WordPress site but does not require any user interaction beyond that. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 4.3 (medium severity), reflecting the network attack vector, low complexity, and limited impact confined to confidentiality loss. There is no impact on integrity or availability, and no known exploits have been reported in the wild. No official patches have been released at the time of this report, so mitigation relies on access control and monitoring. The vulnerability highlights the importance of enforcing strict authorization checks on sensitive API endpoints, especially those exposed via AJAX in WordPress plugins.

For European organizations, the exposure of the Virusdie API key could lead to unauthorized access to their website security management platform, potentially allowing attackers to disable security features, manipulate scanning results, or otherwise compromise the website's security posture. This could result in increased risk of malware infections, data breaches, or website defacement. Since the vulnerability requires only Subscriber-level access, which is often granted to contributors or users with minimal privileges, the attack surface is relatively broad within organizations that allow user registrations or have multiple contributors. The confidentiality breach of the API key could also lead to lateral attacks against other websites managed under the same Virusdie account. Given the widespread use of WordPress in Europe and the popularity of security plugins, organizations relying on Virusdie for website protection are at risk. The lack of integrity and availability impact reduces the immediate operational risk but does not diminish the potential for longer-term compromise and reputational damage.

1. Immediately restrict or audit user roles on WordPress sites using the Virusdie plugin to ensure that only trusted users have Subscriber-level or higher access. 2. Monitor and log all access to the wp_ajax_virusdie_apikey AJAX endpoint, if possible, to detect unauthorized API key retrieval attempts. 3. Rotate the Virusdie API key associated with affected sites to invalidate any potentially compromised keys. 4. Implement additional access controls or custom code to enforce capability checks on the vd_get_apikey function until an official patch is released. 5. Regularly check for updates from Virusdie and apply patches promptly once available. 6. Educate site administrators about the risks of granting unnecessary user privileges and the importance of plugin security hygiene. 7. Consider using web application firewalls (WAFs) to monitor and block suspicious AJAX requests targeting this endpoint. 8. Review Virusdie account activity for signs of unauthorized access or changes.