WordPress REST API Authentication <= 3.6.3 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Limited Options Update
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 3.6.4
- Affected Plugin
- JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs
- Affected Version
<= 3.6.3- CVSS
- 4.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2025-39545
At a glance
CVE-2025-39545 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.6.3. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. The issue is fixed in version 3.6.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed April 2025, reported by chuck.
Vulnerability Overview
The WordPress REST API Authentication plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data that can lead to a denial of service due to a missing capability check on the mo_api_auth_close_admin_notices() function in all versions up to, and including, 3.6.3. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to update option values to the current time on the WordPress site. This can be leveraged to update an option that would create an error on the site and deny service to legitimate users or be used to set some values to true such as registration.
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
JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs <= 3.6.3 carries this weakness at mo_api_auth_close_admin_notices(), 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 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs the fix is 3.6.4: builds <= 3.6.3 are affected, anything from 3.6.4 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 3.6.4, 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: JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 3.6.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs
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