Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This WordPress plugin flaw could let an unauthenticated visitor directly access plugin files and perform unauthorized database-related actions. The reported impact includes viewing a site's database and making changes. That creates business risk around data exposure, content tampering, and site integrity for WordPress sites using ARI Adminer versions up to 1.1.14.
Executive priority
Prioritize affected public WordPress sites for immediate review. The vulnerability can affect database confidentiality and integrity without requiring credentials, making it relevant to incident risk, website trust, and potential operational disruption.
Technical view
CVE-2019-25215 is a missing authorization issue in ARI Adminer for WordPress. The source describes absent file access controls across nearly every plugin file, allowing unauthenticated direct file calls. CVSS 3.1 is 7.3 high with network access, low complexity, no privileges, and confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to WordPress installations with the ARI Adminer plugin installed, especially versions up to and including 1.1.14. Internet-facing WordPress sites are the primary concern because the attack vector is network-accessible and unauthenticated.
Exploitation context
The CVE is not listed as KEV in the provided bundle, and no cited source states active exploitation. The issue is still serious because it requires no authentication or user interaction and targets database-management functionality exposed through plugin files.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports CWE-862 missing authorization and no direct file access restrictions. The bundle does not include confirmed exploitation, detailed affected CPEs, or a named fixed version. The affected metadata also appears sparse, so validate against Wordfence and WordPress plugin records.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for ARI Adminer plugin presence and version.
- For affected versions, check Wordfence and WordPress plugin guidance for the supported fix path.
- Disable or remove the plugin where it is not operationally required.
- Limit public access to database-management functionality while remediation is planned.
- Review database and WordPress logs for unexplained access or changes.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether ARI Adminer is installed on each WordPress site.
- Record installed plugin versions and compare against versions up to 1.1.14.
- Verify unauthenticated users cannot reach plugin database-management functionality.
- Check logs for direct requests to ARI Adminer plugin files.
- Validate database contents and user accounts for unexpected changes.
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 lookupDatabase behavior lookup
The CVE wording references database injection or access, so collection and exfiltration review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2019-25215 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
- High
- CVSS
- 7.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L3.93.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.3HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/67ad04d4-49ef-4bc4-b3b0-f2752566145e?source=cveCVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&old=2065317%40ari-adminer&new=2065317%40ari-adminer&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=CVE 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.