Full Report
Patchstack urges admins to patch new WordPress ASE plugin vulnerability that lets users restore previous admin privileges
Analysis Summary
# Vulnerability: WordPress ASE Plugin Privilege Escalation
## CVE Details
- CVE ID: CVE-2025-24648, CVE-2024-43333 (Two IDs associated with the flaw)
- CVSS Score: Not explicitly provided, but described as a "serious security risk."
- CWE: Insufficient authorization check (Implied by reliance only on nonce check).
## Affected Systems
- Products: Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) Plugin for WordPress (Free and Pro versions)
- Versions: Up to and including version 7.6.2.1
- Configurations: Specifically when the "View Admin as Role" feature is enabled.
## Vulnerability Description
The vulnerability is a privilege escalation flaw residing in the "View Admin as Role" feature of the ASE plugin. The mechanism intended to allow role restoration from user metadata failed to implement robust permission verification, relying only on a nonce check. This allowed any authenticated user, provided they had a previously higher role stored in their metadata, to exploit the flaw and successfully restore their original, higher-level privileges (e.g., administrator access), even if they had been subsequently downgraded.
## Exploitation
- Status: Not explicitly stated as exploited in the wild, but discovered by security researchers (Patchstack).
- Complexity: Implied to be reasonably low for an existing authenticated user, as it relies on inadequate nonce checks rather than complex memory corruption.
- Attack Vector: Adjacent (Authenticated User).
## Impact
- Confidentiality: High (A lower-privileged user gaining administrator access).
- Integrity: High (Ability to modify site configuration, data, and users).
- Availability: Potentially High (Modification or destruction of site content/operations).
## Remediation
### Patches
- The vulnerability is patched in **ASE Plugin version 7.6.3** and later.
### Workarounds
- Disable the “View Admin as Role” feature if it is not actively required.
- Regularly audit all user roles and permissions within WordPress.
## Detection
- **Indicators of Compromise (IOCs):** Look for unauthorized role changes or unexpected promotion of standard users to administrator roles following usage of the affected feature.
- **Detection Methods and Tools:** Monitor application logs for abnormal execution flows related to user role retrieval/restoration functions within the ASE plugin logic, specifically where nonce validation occurs without corresponding authorization checks. Security plugins should be utilized for added protection.
## References
- Vendor advisories: Seek official advisories from the ASE plugin vendor/WordPress repository.
- Relevant links:
- infosecurity-magazine dot com/news/wordpress-ase-plugin-flaw/