CVE-2025-4571 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) affecting the GiveWP Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform for WordPress. The root cause is an insufficient capability check within the permissionsCheck functions across all versions up to 4.3.0. This flaw allows authenticated users with Contributor-level permissions or higher to bypass intended authorization controls, enabling them to view or delete fundraising campaigns, access sensitive donor information, and modify campaign events without proper privileges. The vulnerability does not require user interaction and can be exploited remotely over the network by any authenticated user with the minimum Contributor role, which is commonly assigned in WordPress environments. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.4, indicating a medium severity with network attack vector, low attack complexity, and privileges required. The impact primarily affects confidentiality and integrity, as unauthorized data access and modification can undermine donor privacy and campaign integrity. No patches are currently linked, and no known exploits have been reported in the wild, but the vulnerability poses a significant risk to organizations relying on GiveWP for fundraising and donor management. The plugin’s widespread use in non-profit and fundraising sectors increases the attack surface, especially in regions with high WordPress adoption.

The vulnerability allows attackers with Contributor-level access to bypass authorization controls, potentially leading to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive donor data and unauthorized modification or deletion of fundraising campaigns. This can result in loss of donor trust, legal and regulatory consequences related to data privacy, and disruption of fundraising activities. The integrity of fundraising campaigns can be compromised, affecting the organization’s reputation and financial stability. Since Contributor-level access is relatively easy to obtain compared to higher privileges, the attack surface is broad within affected organizations. Although availability is not impacted, the confidentiality and integrity breaches can have significant operational and reputational impacts. Organizations using GiveWP in sectors such as non-profits, charities, and political fundraising are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, which could also facilitate further attacks leveraging exposed data.

1. Immediately restrict Contributor-level and higher access to trusted users only, minimizing the number of users with such privileges. 2. Implement strict role-based access controls and audit user permissions regularly to ensure no unnecessary elevated privileges exist. 3. Monitor logs for unusual activity related to fundraising campaigns and donor data access or modifications. 4. Apply any available patches or updates from the GiveWP vendor as soon as they are released. 5. If patches are not yet available, consider temporarily disabling the GiveWP plugin or limiting its functionality to prevent exploitation. 6. Use Web Application Firewalls (WAF) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious requests targeting GiveWP endpoints. 7. Educate administrators and users about the risks of privilege escalation and enforce strong authentication mechanisms to reduce the risk of compromised accounts. 8. Regularly back up fundraising data to enable recovery in case of unauthorized deletions or modifications.