Frontend Dashboard: Privilege escalation or authentication bypass
Frontend Dashboard is affected by privilege escalation or authentication bypass. Exploitation requires an authenticated subscriber account. A successful request can grant permissions or access that the caller should not possess.
- Component
- Frontend Dashboard
- Plugin slug
frontend-dashboard- Affected
- See vendor advisory
- Safe version
- See mitigation notes
- Published
- May 13, 2025
- Weakness
- CWE-285 — Improper Authorization
This CVE was published May 13, 2025 and is one of 10 known issues for this plugin.
Update, patch or deactivate.
No fixed release is identified. Update Frontend Dashboard when a confirmed fixed release becomes available; until then, disable and remove it when the site's risk warrants.
No confirmed safe version is listed. Consider a vendor-supported patch or temporarily restricting the affected functionality while you assess the risk.
Deactivate only when warranted by your risk profile, or when advised by your hosting provider in the limited circumstances where the vulnerability cannot otherwise be mitigated. If you’re unsure which action is appropriate, contact Fused or your hosting provider for guidance.
Technical description
The Frontend Dashboard plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation due to a missing capability check on the ajax_request() function in versions 1.0 to 2.2.7. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to control where the plugin sends outgoing emails. By pointing SMTP to their own server, attackers could capture password reset emails intended for administrators, and elevate their privileges for full site takeover.
CVE / CNA vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary and upstream sources
- NVD record for CVE-2025-4473
- WordPress upstream reference plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- WordPress upstream reference plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- WordPress upstream reference plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- WordPress upstream reference plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- WordPress.org plugin page wordpress.org
- Wordfence advisory wordfence.com