Browse As <= 0.2 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Authentication Bypass via Cookie
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Plugin
- Browse As
- Affected Version
<= 0.2- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-288 · Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel
- CVE
CVE-2025-5190
At a glance
CVE-2025-5190 is a high-severity Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel vulnerability in the Browse As WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 0.2. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed May 2025, reported by István Márton.
Vulnerability Overview
The Browse As plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in versions up to, and including, 0.2. This is due to incorrect authentication checking in the 'IS_BA_Browse_As::notice' function with the 'is_ba_original_user_COOKIEHASH' cookie value. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level permissions and above, to log in as any existing user on the site, such as an administrator, if they have access to the user id.
Technical Analysis
The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-288: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel
Browse As <= 0.2 carries this weakness at is_ba_original_user_COOKIEHASH, and reaching it takes an account at Subscriber level or above. Authentication bypass through an alternate path means the application has a second route to a protected action that skips the checks the primary route performs.
The protection on the main path becomes irrelevant, because the attacker simply uses the route that never asks. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for Browse As yet, so installs running <= 0.2 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.
Remediation
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
How does WordSec protect against this?
Because it turns on account access, WordSec's login security is the relevant layer: role-based two-factor, captcha and brute-force limits raise the cost of getting the account this needs. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C