CVE-2025-9967

Critical

Published: 15 October 2025

Published

15 October 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 0.0017 38.4th percentile

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

Summary

CVE-2025-9967 is a critical-severity Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel (CWE-288) vulnerability in Wordpress (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 at the 38.4th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 AC-2 (Account Management) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement).

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

IA-5 Authenticator Management good match

prevent

IA-5 mandates verifying user identity prior to distributing or changing authenticators like passwords, directly countering the plugin's failure to validate identity before password updates.

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

prevent

AC-3 enforces approved access authorizations, preventing unauthenticated attackers from accessing password update functions even with knowledge of a phone number.

AC-2 Account Management good match

prevent

AC-2 requires secure account management processes including identity verification for modifications like password changes to block unauthorized account takeovers.

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?

Unauthenticated exploitation of a public-facing WordPress plugin vulnerability (T1190) enables account takeover and privilege escalation (T1068) via flawed password reset validation.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

NVD Description

The Orion SMS OTP Verification plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation via account takeover in all versions up to, and including, 1.1.7. This is due to the plugin not properly validating a user's identity prior to updating their…

password. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to change arbitrary user's password to a one-time password if the attacker knows the user's phone number

Deeper analysisAI

CVE-2025-9967 is a privilege escalation vulnerability via account takeover in the Orion SMS OTP Verification plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 1.1.7. The issue stems from the plugin failing to properly validate a user's identity before updating their password, allowing unauthorized password changes. 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). The vulnerability was published on 2025-10-15.

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely with low complexity and no user interaction required. If an attacker knows a target user's phone number, they can reset that user's password to a one-time password (OTP), enabling full account takeover and potential privilege escalation to administrative levels depending on the victim's role.

Advisories and related resources, including the Wordfence threat intelligence page (https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/b121fdb4-93a8-400c-89c2-3195cb40e03c?source=cve), plugin changelog (https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/orion-sms-otp-verification/), and reset-password.js source code (https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/orion-sms-otp-verification/trunk/vendor/js/reset-password.js), provide further details on the flaw for mitigation planning, such as updating to a patched version if available.