VulnerabilityPublished 13 Dec 2025Updated 15 Dec 2025

CVE-2025-9218: rtMedia for WordPress, BuddyPress and bbPress · Missing Authorization

Affects rtMedia for WordPress, BuddyPress and bbPressSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 3.7 Low.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 08:30 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

3.7Low

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 24% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: High
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: None
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: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
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: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within 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 13 Dec 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 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
rtcamp rtMedia for WordPress, BuddyPress and bbPress	Affected =4.7.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-9218, organizations should first verify if the Godam plugin is active alongside rtMedia versions 4.7.0 to 4.7.3. If so, immediate steps include disabling the Godam plugin or the rtMedia plugin until a patch is available. Monitor vendor announcements for official security updates and apply patches promptly once released. In the interim, restrict REST API access using web application firewalls (WAFs) or server-level access controls to limit unauthenticated requests to the affected endpoints. Implement strict access controls on draft and private post media directories to prevent direct URL access. Conduct audits of media content stored in draft or private posts to identify sensitive data that could be exposed. Additionally, consider deploying intrusion detection systems (IDS) to monitor unusual REST API activity. Educate site administrators about the risk and encourage regular plugin updates and minimal plugin usage to reduce attack surface. Finally, review and harden WordPress REST API permissions and authentication mechanisms to prevent similar authorization bypass issues.

Description

The rtMedia for WordPress, BuddyPress and bbPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to to Information Disclosure due to missing authorization in the handle_rest_pre_dispatch() function when the Godam plugin is active, in versions 4.7.0 to 4.7.3. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to retrieve media items associated with draft or private posts.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2025-9218 is unauthorized disclosure of media content associated with draft or private posts, which can compromise confidentiality. Organizations hosting sensitive unpublished media—such as internal documents, proprietary images, or private user-generated content—may face privacy violations or reputational damage if this data is exposed. Although the vulnerability does not affect data integrity or availability, the leakage of private media could facilitate further social engineering, phishing, or targeted attacks. The requirement for the Godam plugin to be active and the specific plugin versions limits the scope, but many WordPress sites use rtMedia and related plugins, increasing the potential attack surface globally. Since no authentication or user interaction is required, attackers can remotely exploit this vulnerability over the network, though the high attack complexity reduces the likelihood of widespread exploitation. Organizations with public-facing WordPress sites using these plugins should be aware of the risk to their unpublished content and consider the potential legal and compliance implications of unauthorized data disclosure.

CWE-862Missing Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #4OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
Architecture and Design
Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
Architecture and Design
Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
V7.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Exploitation of Thunderbolt Protection Flaws (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Feb 2026, 17:47 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-862

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats