Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessRegister/obtain subscriber account
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DeliveryRead exposed AJAX nonce from logged-in context
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ExploitInvoke unprotected AJAX action
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ExecutionInstall & activate arbitrary WP.org plugin
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ImpactExploit installed plugin for site compromise
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Access control enforcement
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Defense Evasion The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Requires the Vayu X WordPress theme at a version before 1.0.6 to be active, and requires the attacker to hold any authenticated account no higher than Subscriber (so sites permitting open self-registration are directly exploitable; sites without registration require some existing low-privilege credential). The theme's AJAX action performs no capability check and leaks its guarding nonce to every logged-in user, so the normal nonce defense provides no protection. Exploitation is limited to installing/activating plugins present in the WordPress.org repository rather than uploading arbitrary code directly, so the maximum-impact path (RCE) depends on chaining to a vulnerable installed plugin; there is no unauthenticated exploitation and no user interaction from a victim is needed. |
| Impact | Signals are mostly consistent and point to a moderate, credential-gated authorization flaw rather than an urgent internet-wide threat. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L, 7.1) describes a low-privilege authenticated attacker over the network with no user interaction, and the high integrity impact reflects that a subscriber can install and activate arbitrary WordPress.org-hosted plugins - a strong site-integrity primitive. CISA SSVC reinforces the lower urgency: Exploitation=none (no observed exploitation), Automatable=no, and Technical Impact=partial. There is no EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no public POC provided, so exploitation status is: no public exploit identified at time of analysis. The main risk amplifier is not raw severity but the pivot: arbitrary plugin installation lets an attacker deliberately install an older or known-vulnerable plugin and then exploit it for RCE, effectively turning a subscriber account into full site compromise. The gating factor is that PR:L requires an existing authenticated account (e.g. an open-registration subscriber), which is why this is a real but not top-tier priority. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | On a site running Vayu X before 1.0.6 with open user registration, an attacker registers a subscriber account, harvests the AJAX nonce that the theme exposes to every logged-in user, and calls the unprotected AJAX action to install and activate an attacker-chosen WordPress.org plugin. They then either exploit a known vulnerability in that freshly installed plugin or use its functionality to escalate toward code execution and full site takeover. No public exploit code was identified at time of analysis, and no active exploitation is reported. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 30, 2026
Authenticated plugin installation in the Vayu X WordPress theme before 1.0.6 allows any logged-in user - even a Subscriber - to install and activate arbitrary plugins hosted on the WordPress.org repository. The theme's AJAX action omits a capability check (CWE-284) and leaks its guarding nonce to every authenticated user, so the nonce provides no protection whatsoever; the CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L, 7.1) reflects high integrity impact with no user interaction required. Exploitation is limited to WordPress.org-hosted plugins rather than arbitrary code upload, so maximum impact depends on chaining to a vulnerable installable plugin; no public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, there is no confirmed active exploitation (CISA KEV), and CISA SSVC rates exploitation as none and automatable as no.
RemediationAI
Upgrade the Vayu X theme to version 1.0.6 or later, which is the vendor-released fix identified for the 0 < 1.0.6 affected range; confirm the update through the WPScan advisory at https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/250a7d7c-9c9b-4619-a6f4-533d29a30e23/. Because the missing capability check is server-side, no nonce or client-side workaround mitigates it, so patching is the only complete fix. If immediate upgrade is not possible, disable the theme and run an alternative theme - the cleanest but most disruptive option; otherwise restrict exposure by closing open self-registration (Settings > General) so a Subscriber account cannot be self-provisioned, and audit existing low-privilege accounts, accepting that the flaw remains reachable by anyone holding any already-legitimate Subscriber credential. Administrators can also narrow blast radius by minimizing which plugins are present, since the exploit can only install and activate plugins that exist in the WordPress.org repository; note this is a risk-reduction measure, not a fix, and does nothing to stop installation of a vulnerable repository plugin used as a chaining step. After upgrading, review installed and active plugins for anything unknown, and rotate or remove unnecessary low-privilege accounts.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The flaw sits in a WordPress theme AJAX handler registered through the standard wp_ajax_* hook mechanism. WordPress separates two concerns that this handler conflates: the nonce (generated with wp_create_nonce and validated by check_ajax_referer) is a CSRF token meant only to prove the request originated from the site, while authorization must be enforced separately via current_user_can - typically capabilities such as install_plugins and activate_plugins. Because the theme performs no capability check and exposes its nonce to every logged-in user, the handler effectively becomes an authorization-bypass primitive that lets a low-privilege Subscriber drive WordPress's plugin installation routine, which resolves packages from the WordPress.org repository. This is CWE-284 (Improper Access Control). The restriction to WordPress.org-hosted plugins means the attacker cannot upload arbitrary ZIP payloads directly; instead they install a legitimate-but-vulnerable or otherwise abusable plugin already in the repository, making the high-impact RCE path a chaining exercise rather than a single-step exploit. The affected range is 0 through versions prior to 1.0.6 per ENISA EUVD (EUVD-2026-89614); no CPE strings were supplied in the input data.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
Any authenticated subscriber (PR:L) can remotely and reliably install/activate plugins; high integrity from arbitrary plugin install, low availability from activation side effects, no direct confidentiality loss.
Primary rating from Vendor (wpscan).
CVSS VectorVendor: wpscan
Lifecycle Timeline
3DescriptionCVE.org
The Vayu X WordPress theme before 1.0.6 does not perform any capability check on one of its AJAX actions and exposes the nonce guarding it to every logged-in user, allowing any authenticated user, such as a subscriber, to install and activate any hosted on the WordPress.org repository.
Executive ViewAI
Vayu X WordPress theme versions before 1.0.6 allow any authenticated user, including a Subscriber, to install and activate WordPress.org-hosted plugins, creating a high integrity risk for affected sites. No public exploit identified at time of analysis, but a low-privileged account could alter site functionality or chain to a vulnerable plugin. Leadership should prioritize patching to 1.0.6 and verify that unauthorized plugin installations have not occurred.
Apply vendor patch.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
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EUVD-2026-89614
GHSA-hfr5-224q-hqxr
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB