CVE-2025-5821
Published: 23 August 2025
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 34.6% 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).
Deeper analysis
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.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-25634
Vulnerability details
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…
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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.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Direct authentication bypass in public-facing WordPress plugin enables remote admin takeover without credentials or interaction.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Timely identification, reporting, and correction of the authentication bypass flaw in the Case Theme User plugin directly prevents exploitation of CVE-2025-5821.
Vulnerability monitoring and scanning detects the presence of the vulnerable Case Theme User plugin version, enabling remediation before exploitation.
Strict account management processes restrict or disable default temporary user creation, blocking the prerequisite existing account needed for authentication bypass exploitation.