CVE-2025-5949 is a critical authorization bypass vulnerability classified under CWE-639, affecting the Service Finder Bookings plugin for WordPress developed by aonetheme. The flaw arises because the plugin fails to properly verify the identity of users when processing password change requests. Specifically, any authenticated user with subscriber-level privileges or higher can exploit this weakness to reset the passwords of other users, including administrators, thereby escalating their privileges and potentially taking over accounts. This vulnerability does not require user interaction and can be exploited remotely over the network, as indicated by the CVSS vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N). The impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high, as attackers can gain full control over affected WordPress sites, manipulate data, and disrupt services. Although no public exploits have been reported yet, the vulnerability's nature and ease of exploitation make it a significant threat. The plugin affects all versions up to and including 6.0, and no official patches were listed at the time of publication, necessitating urgent attention from site administrators. The vulnerability was reserved in June 2025 and published in November 2025, with Wordfence as the assigner. Given WordPress's widespread use in Europe, especially among small and medium enterprises, this vulnerability poses a substantial risk to organizations relying on the Service Finder Bookings plugin for appointment and booking management.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-5949 is substantial. Organizations using the vulnerable plugin risk unauthorized privilege escalation, leading to full account takeover of administrative users. This can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, defacement or disruption of websites, and potential lateral movement within the network if the WordPress site is integrated with internal systems. The confidentiality of customer and business data is at risk, as attackers can manipulate or exfiltrate information. Integrity is compromised as attackers can alter site content or configurations. Availability may be affected if attackers disrupt services or lock out legitimate administrators. Given the plugin's role in managing bookings and service appointments, exploitation could also disrupt business operations and customer trust. The threat is particularly critical for sectors relying heavily on online booking systems, such as healthcare, legal, education, and professional services prevalent across Europe. Additionally, regulatory compliance risks arise under GDPR if personal data is compromised due to this vulnerability.

Immediate mitigation steps include restricting access to the Service Finder Bookings plugin to trusted users only and auditing current user roles to minimize subscriber-level accounts. Administrators should monitor logs for unusual password reset activities and implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all administrative accounts to reduce the risk of account takeover. Until an official patch is released, consider disabling the password reset functionality within the plugin or temporarily deactivating the plugin if feasible. Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious password reset requests targeting this vulnerability. Regularly update WordPress core and all plugins to the latest versions once patches become available. Conduct thorough user permission reviews and enforce the principle of least privilege. Additionally, organizations should prepare incident response plans specific to WordPress compromises and educate users about the risks associated with password resets and account security.