Crypto Tool <= 2.22 - Missing Authentication to Unauthenticated Limited File Deletion
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 3.0.0
- Affected Plugin
- Crypto
- Affected Version
<= 2.22- CVSS
- 5.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2025-11988
At a glance
CVE-2025-11988 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Crypto WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.22. 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 3.0.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2025, reported by Jonas Benjamin Friedli.
Vulnerability Overview
The Crypto plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized manipulation of data in all versions up to, and including, 2.22. This is due to the plugin registering an unauthenticated AJAX action (wp_ajax_nopriv_crypto_connect_ajax_process) that allows calling the crypto_delete_json method with only a publicly-available nonce check. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to delete specific JSON files matching the pattern *_pending.json within the wp-content/uploads/yak/ directory, causing data loss and denial of service for plugin workflows that rely on these artifacts.
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-862: Missing Authorization
Reaching this weakness in Crypto <= 2.22 takes no account at all. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.
Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For Crypto the fix is 3.0.0: builds <= 2.22 are affected, anything from 3.0.0 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 3.0.0, 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: Crypto 3.0.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Crypto
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