CVE-2025-15488VulnerabilityPublished 26 Mar 2026

CVE-2025-15488: Responsive Plus (WordPress plugin) · Incorrect Authorization

Affects Responsive Plus (WordPress plugin)Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium : upgrade to 3.4.3 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 25% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 3.4.3

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: Low
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 26 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade Responsive Plus (WordPress plugin) to 3.4.3.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Responsive Plus	Affected <3.4.3	Fixed in 3.4.3

AI-suggested

1. Update the Responsive Plus plugin to version 3.4.3 or later as soon as it becomes available, as this will contain the fix for the vulnerability. 2. If you cannot patch yet, restrict access to the vulnerable AJAX endpoint by implementing web application firewall (WAF) rules that block unauthenticated requests to update_responsive_woo_free_shipping_left_shortcode. 3. Implement strict input validation and sanitization on all shortcode parameters, especially content_rech_data, to prevent execution of arbitrary shortcodes. 4. Monitor web server and WordPress logs for suspicious AJAX requests targeting this action. 5. Limit plugin usage to trusted administrators and disable unused AJAX actions if possible. 6. Employ security plugins that can detect and block unauthorized shortcode execution or anomalous AJAX activity. 7. Regularly audit WordPress plugins for updates and vulnerabilities to reduce exposure.

Description

The Responsive Plus WordPress plugin before 3.4.3 is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution due to the software allowing unauthenticated users to execute the update_responsive_woo_free_shipping_left_shortcode AJAX action that does not properly validate the content_rech_data parameter before processing it as a shortcode.

Impact

The vulnerability enables unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary shortcodes on affected WordPress sites, potentially leading to unauthorized modification of site content, disruption of site availability, or other integrity issues. This can damage the reputation of organizations, cause loss of customer trust, and result in downtime or defacement. For e-commerce sites using WooCommerce with Responsive Plus, this could impact sales and customer experience. While no direct confidentiality impact is noted, the integrity and availability impacts can be significant depending on the shortcode payload. Attackers might also leverage this flaw as a foothold for further attacks, including privilege escalation or malware deployment. Organizations worldwide that rely on Responsive Plus for WooCommerce free shipping features are at risk until patched.

CWE-863Incorrect Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #17OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.
Architecture and Design
Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
Architecture and Design
Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
V7.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

wpscan.com/vulnerability/80ce0f88-3065-48c4-a491-b70e067ce4d7/ (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Mar 2026, 14:03 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-863

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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