VulnerabilityPublished 27 Jun 2025Updated 1 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-5526: BuddyPress Docs (WordPress plugin) · Insecure Direct Object Reference

Affects BuddyPress Docs (WordPress plugin)Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium · fixed in 2.2.5 : update BuddyPress Docs (WordPress plugin) when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.3Medium

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 17% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 2.2.5

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

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

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: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
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: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 27 Jun 2025
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 26 Oct 2026.

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 or the CVSS exploit maturity 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

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
BuddyPress Docs	Affected =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

European organizations should immediately verify the version of BuddyPress Docs installed on their WordPress sites and upgrade to version 2.2.5 or later once available. If you cannot patch yet, administrators should consider disabling the BuddyPress Docs plugin or restricting its use to trusted users only. Implementing strict user role management and minimizing the number of users with document access privileges can reduce exposure. Additionally, monitoring access logs for unusual file access patterns or downloads can help detect exploitation attempts. Organizations should also review and tighten WordPress file permissions and consider deploying web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to block unauthorized access attempts to document URLs. Regular security audits and vulnerability scanning focused on WordPress plugins are recommended to identify and remediate similar issues proactively. Finally, educating users about the importance of account security and monitoring for compromised credentials can help prevent attackers from gaining authenticated access required to exploit this vulnerability.

Description

The BuddyPress Docs WordPress plugin before 2.2.5 lacks proper access controls and allows a logged in user to view and download files belonging to another user

Impact

For European organizations using WordPress sites with the BuddyPress Docs plugin, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive internal documents. This may include intellectual property, personal data protected under GDPR, or confidential business information. The exposure of such data can result in regulatory penalties, reputational damage, and loss of competitive advantage. Additionally, unauthorized access to documents could facilitate further attacks such as social engineering or targeted phishing campaigns. Organizations that rely on BuddyPress Docs for internal collaboration or customer-facing portals are particularly at risk. The impact is heightened in sectors with stringent data protection requirements, such as finance, healthcare, and government institutions within Europe. Since the vulnerability requires only authenticated access, any compromised or legitimate user account can be leveraged to exploit this flaw, increasing the attack surface. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers may develop exploits once the vulnerability becomes widely known.

CWE-639Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #24OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The system's authorization functionality does not prevent one user from gaining access to another user's data or record by modifying the key value identifying the data.
Architecture and Design
For each and every data access, ensure that the user has sufficient privilege to access the record that is being requested.
Architecture and Design · Implementation
Make sure that the key that is used in the lookup of a specific user's record is not controllable externally by the user or that any tampering can be detected.
Architecture and Design
Use encryption in order to make it more difficult to guess other legitimate values of the key or associate a digital signature with the key so that the server can verify that there has been no tampering.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Access Control (opens in a new tab)
Authorization Testing Automation (opens in a new tab)
Cross-Site Request Forgery Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Insecure Direct Object Reference Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V4.1.2 (opens in a new tab)
V4.2.1 (opens in a new tab)
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

wpscan.com/vulnerability/10196cd3-5bf7-4e40-a4f7-4ff2d34d516d/ (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 27 Jun 2025, 06:34 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-639

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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