CVE-2025-3453 identifies an authorization bypass vulnerability (CWE-863) in the WordPress plugin 'Password Protected – Password Protect your WordPress Site, Pages, & WooCommerce Products – Restrict Content, Protect WooCommerce Category and more' developed by saadiqbal. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 2.7.7. The core issue lies in the 'password_protected_cookie' function, which improperly authorizes access when the plugin's 'Use Transient' setting is enabled. Transients in WordPress are a caching mechanism, and this setting attempts to optimize password protection by caching authorization states. However, due to flawed logic, unauthenticated attackers can exploit this to retrieve sensitive protected content without providing valid credentials. This results in sensitive information exposure, compromising the confidentiality of protected pages, posts, and WooCommerce product data. The vulnerability requires no authentication, no user interaction, and can be exploited remotely over the network, increasing its risk profile. Despite the lack of known active exploits, the vulnerability's presence in a popular WordPress plugin used for content protection makes it a notable threat. The CVSS v3.1 score of 5.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N) indicates a medium severity primarily due to the confidentiality impact and ease of exploitation. No patches or updates are currently linked, so mitigation relies on configuration changes or plugin updates once available.

The primary impact of CVE-2025-3453 is unauthorized disclosure of sensitive content protected by the affected WordPress plugin. Organizations using this plugin to restrict access to site pages, WooCommerce products, or categories may inadvertently expose confidential business information, customer data, or proprietary content. This can lead to reputational damage, loss of customer trust, and potential regulatory compliance issues if personal data is leaked. Since the vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote attackers to bypass authorization controls, it significantly increases the attack surface of affected websites. E-commerce sites using WooCommerce are particularly at risk of exposing product details or pricing strategies. The vulnerability does not affect data integrity or availability, but the confidentiality breach alone can have serious business consequences. Given the widespread use of WordPress and WooCommerce globally, the scale of potential impact is substantial. Organizations relying on this plugin for content protection must consider the risk of data leakage and prioritize remediation to prevent exploitation.

1. Immediately audit WordPress installations to identify usage of the 'Password Protected – Password Protect your WordPress Site, Pages, & WooCommerce Products' plugin, especially versions up to 2.7.7. 2. Disable the 'Use Transient' setting in the plugin configuration as a temporary mitigation to prevent exploitation until an official patch is released. 3. Monitor official plugin channels and WordPress security advisories for updates or patches addressing CVE-2025-3453 and apply them promptly. 4. If feasible, consider temporarily disabling the plugin or replacing it with alternative content protection solutions that have no known vulnerabilities. 5. Implement web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules to detect and block suspicious requests targeting the 'password_protected_cookie' function or related plugin endpoints. 6. Conduct regular security assessments and penetration tests focusing on authorization controls for protected content. 7. Educate site administrators about the risks of enabling caching or transient features in security plugins without thorough validation. 8. Review and tighten access controls and logging to detect unauthorized access attempts. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on specific plugin settings and proactive monitoring tailored to this vulnerability.