CVE-2025-15157: CWE-862 Missing Authorization in starfishwp Starfish Review Generation & Marketing for WordPress
The Starfish Review Generation & Marketing for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data that can lead to privilege escalation due to a missing capability check on the 'srm_restore_options_defaults' function in all versions up to, and including, 3.1.19. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to update arbitrary options on the WordPress site. This can be leveraged to update the default role for registration to administrator and enable user registration for attackers to gain administrative user access to a vulnerable site.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
CVE-2025-15157 is a missing authorization vulnerability (CWE-862) in the Starfish Review Generation & Marketing for WordPress plugin. The issue arises from the lack of capability checks in the 'srm_restore_options_defaults' function, allowing authenticated users with low privileges (Subscriber-level) to update arbitrary WordPress options. This can be exploited to change the default registration role to administrator and enable user registration, resulting in privilege escalation and unauthorized administrative access. The vulnerability affects all plugin versions up to and including 3.1.19 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
Potential Impact
Exploitation of this vulnerability allows authenticated users with minimal privileges to escalate their access to administrator level by modifying WordPress options. This can compromise the entire site, leading to full control by an attacker, including the ability to create new administrative users. The impact includes complete confidentiality, integrity, and availability loss of the affected WordPress site.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, restrict user roles to trusted users only and consider disabling or removing the vulnerable plugin if possible. Monitor for updates from the vendor or security advisories for a patch or official mitigation.
CVE-2025-15157: CWE-862 Missing Authorization in starfishwp Starfish Review Generation & Marketing for WordPress
Description
The Starfish Review Generation & Marketing for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data that can lead to privilege escalation due to a missing capability check on the 'srm_restore_options_defaults' function in all versions up to, and including, 3.1.19. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to update arbitrary options on the WordPress site. This can be leveraged to update the default role for registration to administrator and enable user registration for attackers to gain administrative user access to a vulnerable site.
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
CVE-2025-15157 is a missing authorization vulnerability (CWE-862) in the Starfish Review Generation & Marketing for WordPress plugin. The issue arises from the lack of capability checks in the 'srm_restore_options_defaults' function, allowing authenticated users with low privileges (Subscriber-level) to update arbitrary WordPress options. This can be exploited to change the default registration role to administrator and enable user registration, resulting in privilege escalation and unauthorized administrative access. The vulnerability affects all plugin versions up to and including 3.1.19 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
Potential Impact
Exploitation of this vulnerability allows authenticated users with minimal privileges to escalate their access to administrator level by modifying WordPress options. This can compromise the entire site, leading to full control by an attacker, including the ability to create new administrative users. The impact includes complete confidentiality, integrity, and availability loss of the affected WordPress site.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, restrict user roles to trusted users only and consider disabling or removing the vulnerable plugin if possible. Monitor for updates from the vendor or security advisories for a patch or official mitigation.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- Wordfence
- Date Reserved
- 2025-12-27T18:33:56.380Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
Threat ID: 698f9c59c9e1ff5ad86a8ebf
Added to database: 2/13/2026, 9:49:13 PM
Last enriched: 4/9/2026, 9:21:05 PM
Last updated: 5/22/2026, 5:00:43 PM
Views: 106
Community Reviews
0 reviewsCrowdsource mitigation strategies, share intel context, and vote on the most helpful responses. Sign in to add your voice and help keep defenders ahead.
Want to contribute mitigation steps or threat intel context? Sign in or create an account to join the community discussion.
Actions
Updates to AI analysis require Pro Console access. Upgrade inside Console → Billing.
Need more coverage?
Upgrade to Pro Console for AI refresh and higher limits.
For incident response and remediation, OffSeq services can help resolve threats faster.
Latest Threats
Check if your credentials are on the dark web
Instant breach scanning across billions of leaked records. Free tier available.