CVE-2025-14971 identifies a missing authorization vulnerability (CWE-862) in the Link Invoice Payment for WooCommerce plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to 2.8.0. The vulnerability stems from the absence of capability checks in the createPartialPayment and cancelPartialPayment functions, which handle partial payment creation and cancellation respectively. Because these functions do not verify user permissions, unauthenticated attackers can exploit this flaw by enumerating order IDs to create unauthorized partial payments or cancel existing ones. This compromises the integrity of payment data, allowing attackers to manipulate order payment statuses without legitimate access. The vulnerability does not expose confidential information nor does it impact system availability. The attack vector is network-based (remote), requiring no privileges or user interaction, making exploitation relatively straightforward. Although no public exploits have been reported yet, the vulnerability poses a risk to e-commerce sites relying on this plugin for invoicing and payment management. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.3, indicating medium severity, with the vector string AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N. The flaw could lead to financial discrepancies, fraud, and loss of customer trust if exploited. The absence of patches at the time of reporting necessitates interim mitigations such as access restrictions and monitoring. Given WooCommerce's widespread use in Europe, especially in countries with mature e-commerce markets, this vulnerability warrants prompt attention.

For European organizations, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized manipulation of payment data, resulting in financial inaccuracies, potential fraud, and disruption of order processing workflows. Attackers could create fraudulent partial payments or cancel legitimate ones, affecting revenue recognition and customer billing. This undermines the integrity of financial transactions and could erode customer trust if payment disputes arise. Although confidentiality and availability are not directly impacted, the integrity breach can have downstream effects on accounting and compliance processes. E-commerce businesses using WooCommerce with the vulnerable plugin are particularly at risk, especially those with high transaction volumes. The ease of exploitation without authentication increases the threat level, potentially enabling widespread abuse if attackers automate ID enumeration. This could also complicate forensic investigations and increase operational costs due to the need for manual reconciliation and customer support. The lack of known exploits in the wild currently reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as public awareness grows.

1. Immediately verify if the Link Invoice Payment for WooCommerce plugin is installed and identify the version in use. 2. Monitor official vendor channels and security advisories for patch releases addressing CVE-2025-14971 and apply updates promptly once available. 3. Until patches are released, restrict access to the WordPress REST API endpoints or AJAX handlers associated with createPartialPayment and cancelPartialPayment functions using web application firewalls (WAF) or custom access control rules. 4. Implement IP whitelisting or authentication requirements on these endpoints to prevent unauthenticated access. 5. Enable detailed logging and monitoring of partial payment creation and cancellation activities to detect anomalous behavior indicative of exploitation attempts. 6. Conduct regular audits of order payment records to identify unauthorized modifications. 7. Educate e-commerce and IT teams about this vulnerability to increase vigilance. 8. Consider temporarily disabling the plugin if feasible without disrupting critical business functions until a patch is available. 9. Harden the overall WordPress environment by limiting plugin installations to trusted sources and minimizing unnecessary permissions. 10. Employ intrusion detection systems (IDS) to alert on suspicious API calls related to payment modifications.