CVE-2025-5953 is a high-severity privilege escalation vulnerability affecting the WP Human Resource Management plugin for WordPress, specifically versions 2.0.0 through 2.2.17. The vulnerability arises from missing authorization checks in two AJAX handler functions: ajax_insert_employee() and update_empoyee(). These functions process client-supplied POST data, including a 'role' parameter, which after minimal sanitization via hrm_clean(), is passed directly to WordPress core functions wp_insert_user() and subsequently to the user role assignment method $user->set_role(). Critically, the plugin fails to verify whether the authenticated user has the necessary permissions to assign the requested role. As a result, any authenticated user with Employee-level access or higher can exploit this flaw to escalate their privileges to administrator level without further authentication or user interaction. The vulnerability is remotely exploitable over the network (AV:N), requires low attack complexity (AC:L), and only requires privileges of a low-level authenticated user (PR:L). There is no user interaction needed (UI:N), and the impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high (C:H/I:H/A:H), as an attacker gaining administrator privileges can fully control the WordPress site, access sensitive HR data, modify or delete content, and potentially pivot to other systems. No known exploits are currently in the wild, and no official patches have been linked yet. The vulnerability was publicly disclosed on July 4, 2025, with a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8, indicating a critical risk to affected installations.

For European organizations using the WP Human Resource Management plugin, this vulnerability poses a significant risk. HR data often contains sensitive personal information protected under GDPR, including employee identities, salaries, and performance records. Unauthorized privilege escalation to administrator level could lead to data breaches, violating privacy regulations and resulting in heavy fines and reputational damage. Additionally, attackers could manipulate HR records, disrupt business operations, or use the compromised WordPress site as a foothold for further attacks within the corporate network. Given the plugin’s role in managing employee data, the integrity and availability of this information are critical. The ease of exploitation by any authenticated user with minimal privileges increases the threat, especially in environments where multiple employees have access to the WordPress backend. This vulnerability could also be leveraged in supply chain attacks if the compromised site is used to distribute malicious content or malware to partners or customers.

Immediate mitigation steps include restricting access to the WordPress backend to trusted users only and auditing user roles to ensure minimal privileges are assigned. Organizations should monitor logs for suspicious AJAX requests targeting the vulnerable functions. Since no official patch is currently linked, administrators should consider temporarily disabling or removing the WP Human Resource Management plugin until a secure update is released. Implementing Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block unauthorized role assignment attempts can provide an additional layer of defense. Furthermore, enforcing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all users with backend access can reduce the risk of compromised credentials being exploited. Regular backups of the WordPress site and HR data should be maintained to enable recovery in case of compromise. Finally, organizations should subscribe to vendor and security mailing lists to promptly apply patches once available.