Directory Listings WordPress plugin – uListing <= 2.2.0 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Arbitrary Post Meta Update and PHP Object Injection
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Plugin
- Directory Listings WordPress plugin – uListing
- Affected Version
<= 2.2.0- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2025-1657
At a glance
CVE-2025-1657 is a high-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Directory Listings WordPress plugin WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.2.0. 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. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed March 2025, reported by Phat RiO.
Vulnerability Overview
The Directory Listings WordPress plugin – uListing plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data and PHP Object Injection due to a missing capability check on the stm_listing_ajax AJAX action in all versions up to, and including, 2.2.0. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to update post meta data and inject PHP Objects that may be unserialized. A capability check was added in 2.1.8, but the unserialize is still present.
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
Reaching this weakness in Directory Listings WordPress plugin <= 2.2.0 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. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for Directory Listings WordPress plugin yet, so installs running <= 2.2.0 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.
Remediation
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
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. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in Directory Listings WordPress plugin – uListing
- 9.8CVE-2021-4340: uListing <= 1.6.6 SQL Injection
CVE-2021-4340 - 9.8CVE-2021-36879: Listing, Classified Ads… Privilege Escalation
CVE-2021-36879 - 9.8CVE-2021-36880: Listing, Classified Ads & Business… SQL Injection
CVE-2021-36880 - 9.8CVE-2021-4381: uListing <= 1.6.6 Options Changes
CVE-2021-4381 - 9.1CVE-2021-4357: uListing <= 1.6.6 Arbitrary Post/Page Deletion
CVE-2021-4357 - 8.8CVE-2025-32662: uListing <= 2.2.0 PHP Object Injection
CVE-2025-32662 - 8.8CVE-2025-1653: Directory Listings… Privilege Escalation
CVE-2025-1653 - 8.8Listing, Classified Ads & Business Directory – uListing <= 2.0.8 CSRF
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