Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2025-14997 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Wordpress (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 47% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2025-14997 is an arbitrary file deletion vulnerability in the BuddyPress Xprofile Custom Field Types plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 1.2.8. The issue arises from insufficient file path validation in the 'delete_field' function, classified under CWE-22 (Path Traversal) with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
Authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access or higher can exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. By manipulating file paths, they can delete arbitrary files on the server, potentially leading to remote code execution through the deletion of critical files such as wp-config.php.
Wordfence's threat intelligence advisory provides detailed analysis of the vulnerability (https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/89a7a717-dac3-490e-89dd-268be8eb7bf5?source=cve). The vulnerable code is visible in the plugin's tag 1.2.8 at https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/bp-xprofile-custom-field-types/tags/1.2.8/src/handlers/class-field-upload-helper.php, and a patch is available via changeset 3430565 at https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3430565/bp-xprofile-custom-field-types. Security practitioners should update the plugin immediately to mitigate the risk.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-1079
Vulnerability Data
The BuddyPress Xprofile Custom Field Types plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file deletion due to insufficient file path validation in the 'delete_field' function in all versions up to, and including, 1.2.8. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers,…
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with Subscriber-level access and above, to delete arbitrary files on the server, which can easily lead to remote code execution when the right file is deleted (such as wp-config.php).
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.3.2
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces the intended directory access authorizations that path traversal would otherwise bypass.
Input validation directly neutralizes special path elements before pathname construction occurs.
Least privilege reduces the impact of any unauthorized file access obtained via traversal.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.