Vikinger <= 1.9.30 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via 'vikinger_user_meta_update_ajax'
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.9.31
- Affected Theme
- Vikinger
- Affected Version
<= 1.9.30- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
- CVE
CVE-2025-2238
At a glance
CVE-2025-2238 is a high-severity Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in the Vikinger WordPress theme, affecting versions <= 1.9.30. 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 1.9.31; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed April 2025, reported by Tonn.
Vulnerability Overview
The Vikinger theme for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege in all versions up to, and including, 1.9.30. This is due to insufficient user_meta restrictions in the 'vikinger_user_meta_update_ajax' function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to escalate their privileges to Administrator-level.
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-269: Improper Privilege Management
Vikinger <= 1.9.30 carries this weakness at vikinger_user_meta_update_ajax, and reaching it takes an account at Subscriber level or above. Improper privilege management means the code lets an account end up with capabilities its role should not have.
It converts a low-privileged account into an administrative one, which makes every other restriction on the site irrelevant. For Vikinger the fix is 1.9.31: builds <= 1.9.30 are affected, anything from 1.9.31 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.9.31, 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: Vikinger 1.9.31 closes this, and updating the theme is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Vikinger
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