Better Find and Replace <= 1.6.7 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.6.8
- Affected Plugin
- Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions
- Affected Version
<= 1.6.7- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2025-24734
At a glance
CVE-2025-24734 is a high-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Better Find and Replace WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.6.7. 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. The issue is fixed in version 1.6.8; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2025, reported by Ananda Dhakal.
Vulnerability Overview
The Better Find and Replace plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized Privilege Escalation due to a missing capability check on the db_string_replace() function in all versions up to, and including, 1.6.7. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to replace values in the database that can be leveraged to achieve privilege escalation.
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-862: Missing Authorization
Better Find and Replace <= 1.6.7 carries this weakness at db_string_replace(), and reaching it takes an account at Subscriber level or above. 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 Better Find and Replace the fix is 1.6.8: builds <= 1.6.7 are affected, anything from 1.6.8 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.6.8, 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: Better Find and Replace 1.6.8 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions
- 8.8CVE-2025-9334: Better Find and Replace <= 1.7.7 Limited Code Injection
CVE-2025-9334 - 8.3CVE-2024-39636: Better Find and Replace <= 1.6.1 PHP Object Injection
CVE-2024-39636 - 7.2CVE-2022-1472: Better Find and Replace <= 1.3.5 Admin+ SQL Injection
CVE-2022-1472 - 6.1CVE-2021-24676: Better Find and Replace <= 1.2.8 Reflected XSS
CVE-2021-24676 - 5.4CVE-2026-3369: Better Find and Replace Stored XSS
CVE-2026-3369 - 4.4CVE-2025-53466: Better Find and Replace <= 1.7.6 Stored XSS
CVE-2025-53466 - 4.3CVE-2025-12360: Better Find and Replace <= 1.7.7 Missing Authorization
CVE-2025-12360
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