CVE-2025-14971 identifies a missing authorization vulnerability (CWE-862) in the Link Invoice Payment for WooCommerce plugin for WordPress, present in all versions up to and including 2.8.0. The vulnerability arises because the plugin's createPartialPayment and cancelPartialPayment functions lack proper capability checks, allowing unauthenticated attackers to manipulate partial payments on any order. Specifically, attackers can enumerate order IDs to create unauthorized partial payments or cancel existing ones without any authentication or user interaction. This flaw compromises the integrity of payment data, potentially enabling attackers to alter financial records, disrupt payment workflows, or cause accounting discrepancies. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.3 (medium), reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction, and impact limited to integrity. No confidentiality or availability impacts are noted. No patches were linked at the time of publication, and no known exploits have been reported in the wild. The vulnerability affects a widely used e-commerce plugin integrated into WordPress sites, which are prevalent in many European online retail environments. The lack of authorization checks is a critical security oversight that could be exploited by attackers to interfere with payment processing and order management.

For European organizations, especially those operating e-commerce platforms using WooCommerce with the Link Invoice Payment plugin, this vulnerability poses a risk to the integrity of payment data. Attackers could manipulate partial payments, causing financial discrepancies, customer disputes, and potential loss of revenue or trust. While confidentiality and availability are not directly impacted, the ability to alter payment records without authorization undermines business processes and could complicate compliance with financial regulations such as GDPR and PCI DSS. The disruption of payment workflows could also affect customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Organizations with high transaction volumes or those relying heavily on automated payment reconciliation are particularly vulnerable to operational and reputational damage if exploited.

1. Monitor the vendor's official channels for patches addressing CVE-2025-14971 and apply them promptly once available. 2. Until patches are released, restrict access to the affected plugin's endpoints by implementing web application firewall (WAF) rules that block unauthorized requests targeting createPartialPayment and cancelPartialPayment functions. 3. Employ strict access controls at the server and application level to limit exposure of payment-related APIs. 4. Enable detailed logging and monitoring of payment modification activities to detect unusual or unauthorized partial payment creations or cancellations. 5. Conduct regular security audits of WooCommerce plugins and configurations to identify and remediate missing authorization issues. 6. Educate development and operations teams about the risks of missing capability checks and enforce secure coding practices for customizations. 7. Consider temporarily disabling the Link Invoice Payment plugin if feasible until a secure version is deployed.