CVE-2025-5821

Critical

Published: 23 August 2025

Published

23 August 2025

Modified

15 April 2026

KEV Added

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Patch

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CVSS Score 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Score 0.0044 63.3th percentile

Risk Priority 20 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-5821 is a critical-severity Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel (CWE-288) vulnerability in Themeforest (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 36.7% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 RA-5 (Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).

Threat & Defense at a Glance

What attackers do: exploitation maps to Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190). What defenders deploy: see the NIST 800-53 controls recommended below.

Threat & Defense Details

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match

prevent

Timely identification, reporting, and correction of the authentication bypass flaw in the Case Theme User plugin directly prevents exploitation of CVE-2025-5821.

RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning good match

detect

Vulnerability monitoring and scanning detects the presence of the vulnerable Case Theme User plugin version, enabling remediation before exploitation.

AC-2 Account Management partial match

prevent

Strict account management processes restrict or disable default temporary user creation, blocking the prerequisite existing account needed for authentication bypass exploitation.

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access

Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.

attack.mitre.org →

Why these techniques?

Direct authentication bypass in public-facing WordPress plugin enables remote admin takeover without credentials or interaction.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v18.1

NVD Description

The Case Theme User plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.3. This is due to the plugin not properly logging in a user with the data that was previously verified through…

the facebook_ajax_login_callback() function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to log in as administrative users, as long as they have an existing account on the site which can easily be created by default through the temp user functionality, and access to the administrative user's email.

Deeper analysisAI

CVE-2025-5821 is an authentication bypass vulnerability in the Case Theme User plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 1.0.3. The flaw occurs because the plugin does not properly log in a user after their data has been verified through the facebook_ajax_login_callback() function. Published on 2025-08-23, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and maps to CWE-288 (Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel).

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability to log in as administrative users, provided they have an existing account on the target site—which can be readily created via the default temporary user functionality—and access to the administrative user's email. Exploitation requires no privileges or user interaction, allowing remote attackers to gain full administrative control and potentially compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the site.

Mitigation guidance is available in advisories from Wordfence (https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/3ce95a04-11bd-488e-ad25-1b661e083eb2?source=cve) and the plugin's ThemeForest page (https://themeforest.net/item/consultio-consulting-business-wordpress/25376496). Security practitioners should review these sources for patch information and recommended actions.