CVE-2025-48247

Shortlinks by Pretty Links <= 3.6.15 - Missing Authorization

2025-05-19 00:00
domiee13

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.6.16
Affected Plugin
PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links
Affected Version
<= 3.6.15
CVSS
4.3Medium
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE-2025-48247
View all PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2025-48247 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the PrettyLinks WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.6.15. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The root cause is a missing authorization check on a reachable function. The issue is fixed in version 3.6.16; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2025, reported by domiee13.

Vulnerability Overview

The PrettyLinks – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking, Marketing and Stripe Payments Plugin plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access due to a missing capability check on the search_results() function in all versions up to, and including, 3.6.15. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to search link statuses.

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-862: Missing Authorization

PrettyLinks <= 3.6.15 carries this weakness at search_results(), and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. 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 PrettyLinks the fix is 3.6.16: builds <= 3.6.15 are affected, anything from 3.6.16 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.6.16, 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: PrettyLinks 3.6.16 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-48247https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/9ed0d4b6-f553-4aa5-9dfa-49df78f4269dhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-48247

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C