CVE-2025-11256

Kognetiks Chatbot <= 2.3.5 - Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated Limited File Uploads and Conversation Erasing

2025-10-17 19:09

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 2.3.6
Affected Plugin: Kognetiks Chatbot for WordPress
Affected Version: <= 2.3.5
CVSS: 5.3Medium
Weakness type: CWE-285 · Improper Authorization
CVE: CVE-2025-11256

View all Kognetiks Chatbot for WordPress vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2025-11256 is a medium-severity Improper Authorization vulnerability in the Kognetiks Chatbot for WordPress WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.3.5. It carries a CVSS score of 5.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.3.6; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2025, reported by Jonas Benjamin Friedli.

Vulnerability Overview

The Kognetiks Chatbot plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing capability check on several functions in all versions up to, and including, 2.3.5. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to upload limited safe files and erase conversations.

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 privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user.

CWE-285: Improper Authorization

Reaching this weakness in Kognetiks Chatbot for WordPress <= 2.3.5 takes no account at all. Improper authorization means a permission check exists but does not cover the case being exercised, so a caller who is allowed to do one thing is allowed to do a neighbouring thing as well.

A lower-privileged account performs an action reserved for a higher one, which on a multi-author or membership site means an ordinary user reaching administrative behaviour. For Kognetiks Chatbot for WordPress the fix is 2.3.6: builds <= 2.3.5 are affected, anything from 2.3.6 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.3.6, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

This one needs no account at all, which puts it outside what login hardening can reach; WordSec's login security narrows the account-level paths around it, and the firewall is what inspects the request itself. None of that substitutes for the fix: Kognetiks Chatbot for WordPress 2.3.6 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-11256 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/1c8fe389-ff44-4be3-889b-0006977f4f3c https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-11256

Related records

Other vulnerabilities in Kognetiks Chatbot for WordPress

CVSS Vector

5.3

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

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityNone
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityNone

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