Password Protected: A security weakness
Password Protected is affected by a security weakness. Exposure depends on how the affected operation is made reachable by the site. The resulting impact depends on how the affected component exposes the vulnerable operation.
- Component
- Password Protected
- Plugin slug
password-protected- Affected
- See vendor advisory
- Safe version
- See mitigation notes
- Published
- Oct 25, 2025
- Weakness
- CWE-285 — Improper Authorization
This CVE was published Oct 25, 2025 and is one of 4 known issues for this plugin.
Update, patch or deactivate.
Update Password Protected to a release outside the affected range, or disable and remove it until a fixed version is available.
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 Password Protected plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass via IP address spoofing in all versions up to, and including, 2.7.11. This is due to the plugin trusting client-controlled HTTP headers (such as X-Forwarded-For, HTTP_CLIENT_IP, and similar headers) to determine user IP addresses in the `pp_get_ip_address()` function when the "Use transients" feature is enabled. This makes it possible for attackers to bypass authorization by spoofing these headers with the IP address of a legitimately authenticated user, granted the "Use transients" option is enabled (non-default configuration) and the site is not behind a CDN or reverse proxy that overwrites these headers.
CVE / CNA vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N