CVE-2025-5947

Critical

Published: 01 August 2025

Published

01 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 0.4375 97.6th percentile

Risk Priority 46 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-5947 is a critical-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key (CWE-639) vulnerability in Vicarius (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 2.4% 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 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and IA-5 (Authenticator Management).

Threat & Defense at a Glance

What attackers do: exploitation maps to Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) and 1 other technique. What defenders deploy: see the NIST 800-53 controls recommended below.

Threat & Defense Details

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

prevent

Requires validation of user-controlled inputs like cookie values before processing them for authentication, directly preventing the bypass exploited in CVE-2025-5947.

IA-5 Authenticator Management good match

prevent

Mandates secure management and verification of authenticators, including cookies used by the service_finder_switch_back() function to log in users.

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

prevent

Enforces approved access authorizations in accordance with policy, blocking privilege escalation from unauthenticated cookie manipulation.

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 →

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.

attack.mitre.org →

Why these techniques?

Auth bypass in public-facing WordPress plugin directly enables remote exploitation (T1190) and unauthorized privilege escalation to admin accounts (T1068).

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

NVD Description

The Service Finder Bookings plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation via authentication bypass in all versions up to, and including, 6.0. This is due to the plugin not properly validating a user's cookie value prior to logging them…

in through the service_finder_switch_back() function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to login as any user including admins.

Deeper analysisAI

CVE-2025-5947 is a privilege escalation vulnerability via authentication bypass in the Service Finder Bookings plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 6.0. The issue stems from the plugin's service_finder_switch_back() function failing to properly validate a user's cookie value before logging them in, as detailed in the CVE description published on 2025-08-01. This flaw is classified under CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key) and 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), indicating critical severity.

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low attack complexity and no user interaction or privileges required. By manipulating or crafting the relevant cookie value, attackers can bypass authentication and log in as any existing user on the target WordPress site, including administrators, granting them full control over the site, its content, users, and potentially connected services.

Advisories and mitigation guidance are provided in references from Wordfence, Vicarius, and the plugin's ThemeForest listing. These sources detail detection methods, patch recommendations, and remediation steps for affected installations.