Search Exclude <= 2.5.7 – Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Contributor+) Search Settings Modification via REST API
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.5.8
- Affected Plugin
- Search Exclude
- Affected Version
<= 2.5.7- CVSS
- 4.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2025-10646
At a glance
CVE-2025-10646 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Search Exclude WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.5.7. 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 2.5.8; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2025, reported by Lucas Montes (NiRoX).
Vulnerability Overview
The Search Exclude plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a insufficient capability check on the Base::get_rest_permission() method in all versions up to, and including, 2.5.7. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to modify plugin settings, such as adding arbitrary posts to the search exclusion list.
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
Search Exclude <= 2.5.7 carries this weakness at get_rest_permission(), and reaching it takes an account at Contributor 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 Search Exclude the fix is 2.5.8: builds <= 2.5.7 are affected, anything from 2.5.8 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.5.8, 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: Search Exclude 2.5.8 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in Search Exclude
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