Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This WordPress plugin flaw lets any logged-in attacker reset GDPR Cookie Compliance plugin settings on affected sites. The likely business impact is disruption to cookie-banner and consent configuration, not data theft. Treat it as moderate urgency for public WordPress sites with user accounts.
Executive priority
Handle in the normal vulnerability cycle, faster for sites with subscriber, customer, or contributor logins. The main risk is compliance and site-behavior disruption, not confirmed data compromise.
Technical view
CVE-2019-25143 is a missing authorization check (CWE-862) in the gdpr_cookie_compliance_reset_settings AJAX action in GDPR Cookie Compliance versions up to and including 4.0.2. The CVSS 3.1 score is 5.4, requiring low-privileged authentication and no user interaction, with low integrity and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress sites running GDPR Cookie Compliance at version 4.0.2 or earlier, where untrusted or low-privileged users can authenticate. Sites without the plugin, or without attacker-accessible accounts, have materially lower exposure.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. The issue is remotely reachable over the network but requires an authenticated attacker. Public evidence supports settings reset impact only; it does not support data access or unauthenticated compromise.
Researcher notes
The core weakness is missing authorization on a WordPress AJAX action. CVSS indicates PR:L, UI:N, C:N, I:L, A:L. The source bundle does not name a specific patched version, and the affected metadata is inconsistent, so validate against vendor and plugin repository records.
Mitigation direction
- Update the plugin to a vendor-supported current version.
- Check vendor guidance for the fixed release and upgrade path.
- Restrict or remove unneeded WordPress user accounts.
- Review and restore cookie consent settings after remediation.
- Monitor for unexpected plugin setting resets.
Validation and detection
- Inventory WordPress sites for the plugin and version.
- Flag GDPR Cookie Compliance versions 4.0.2 or earlier.
- Confirm only authorized roles can reset plugin settings.
- Review WordPress logs for suspicious authenticated admin-ajax activity.
- Verify cookie banner and consent settings remain intact.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-862: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
Authorization weaknesses can support privilege escalation and valid-account review, depending on exploit path. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2019-25143 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.4 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L2.82.5Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.4MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/9116d719-f536-4b8a-9e73-9a8a922f8a35?source=cveCVE reference
- https://blog.nintechnet.com/wordpress-gdpr-cookie-compliance-plugin-fixed-authenticated-settings-deletion-vulnerability/CVE reference
- https://www.acunetix.com/vulnerabilities/web/wordpress-plugin-gdpr-cookie-compliance-security-bypass-4-0-2/CVE reference
- https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/5ac51325-a7f5-4d38-9b41-61855206083dCVE reference
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Missing Authorization
Missing Authorization represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.