CVE-2025-10005

Password Protect WordPress Lite <= 1.9.20 - Insecure Direct Object Reference to Authenticated (Contributor+) Password Protected Post Password Update

2026-08-15 16:07
Dmitrii Ignatyev

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.9.21
Affected Plugin
PPWP – Password Protect Pages
Affected Version
<= 1.9.20
CVSS
4.3Medium
Weakness type
CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
CVE
CVE-2025-10005
View all PPWP – Password Protect Pages vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2025-10005 is a medium-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the PPWP WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.9.20. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Contributor level or above. The issue is fixed in version 1.9.21; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2026, reported by Dmitrii Ignatyev.

Vulnerability Overview

The PPWP – Password Protect WordPress | #1 Most-Reviewed Password Plugin plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference in all versions up to, and including, 1.9.20 via the ppw_free_set_password AJAX action due to missing validation on a user controlled key. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to update the password on any password protected post and subsequently access the content.

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.

CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key

Reaching this weakness in PPWP <= 1.9.20 takes an account at Contributor level or above. Authorization bypass through a user-controlled key, often called insecure direct object reference, means the application looks up a record by an identifier from the request without checking that the caller owns it.

Changing a number in the request is enough to read or modify other users' records, which on commerce and membership sites means customer data. For PPWP the fix is 1.9.21: builds <= 1.9.20 are affected, anything from 1.9.21 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.9.21, or a newer patched version

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. None of that substitutes for the fix: PPWP 1.9.21 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-10005https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/b1850e16-6fac-4d72-9346-ea6280fe84d0https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-10005

Related records

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