CVE-2025-14002

WPCOM Member <= 1.7.16 - Authentication Bypass via Weak OTP

2025-12-15 00:00
wesley (wcraft)

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.7.17
Affected Plugin
WPCOM Member
Affected Version
<= 1.7.16
CVSS
8.1High
Weakness type
CWE-287 · Improper Authentication
CVE
CVE-2025-14002
View all WPCOM Member vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2025-14002 is a high-severity Improper Authentication vulnerability in the WPCOM Member WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.7.16. It carries a CVSS score of 8.1 (reachable over the network; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.7.17; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed December 2025, reported by wesley (wcraft).

Vulnerability Overview

The WPCOM Member plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass via brute force in all versions up to, and including, 1.7.16. This is due to weak OTP (One-Time Password) generation using only 6 numeric digits combined with a 10-minute validity window and no rate limiting on verification attempts. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to brute-force the verification code and authenticate as any user, including administrators, if they know the target's phone number, and the target does not notice or ignores the SMS notification with the OTP.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, and no privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-287: Improper Authentication

Reaching this weakness in WPCOM Member <= 1.7.16 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper authentication means the mechanism that proves who a caller is can be satisfied without the secret it was supposed to require.

An attacker authenticates as another user — administrators included — without ever knowing a password, so password policies and login rate limits never come into play. For WPCOM Member the fix is 1.7.17: builds <= 1.7.16 are affected, anything from 1.7.17 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.7.17, 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: WPCOM Member 1.7.17 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-14002https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/4f02ee56-40bd-4132-92e1-e2897ff2a4c4https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-14002

Related records

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