Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This affects WordPress sites using StellarWP/Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer through 1.5.16. The issue is incorrect privilege assignment that can allow privilege escalation. The public record rates it high, but the CVSS vector requires an already high-privileged account and no user interaction.
Executive priority
Treat as high priority for WooCommerce sites using this plugin, especially where many administrators or third parties have privileged access. This is not confirmed as actively exploited in the supplied sources, but potential impact is high.
Technical view
CVE-2025-54697 is CWE-266 in kadence-woocommerce-email-designer <=1.5.16. CVSS 3.1 is 7.2, AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. The provided sources do not describe exploit mechanics, patched version, or detailed mitigation.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress/WooCommerce environments with Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer installed at version 1.5.16 or earlier. Sites without this plugin are not indicated as affected.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Network reachability and low complexity increase concern, but exploitation requires high privileges according to the CVSS vector.
Researcher notes
Available public data identifies incorrect privilege assignment and high-impact privilege escalation, but lacks technical root cause, exploit conditions beyond PR:H, and fixed-version details. Avoid assuming unauthenticated exploitability or active exploitation without new evidence.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for the Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer plugin.
- Check installed plugin versions and prioritize any <=1.5.16.
- Review vendor and Patchstack guidance for an official fixed release.
- Disable or remove the plugin where business impact allows until guidance is clear.
- Restrict and audit high-privilege WordPress accounts.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether kadence-woocommerce-email-designer is installed on each WordPress site.
- Record the exact installed plugin version for affected sites.
- Review WordPress administrator and privileged account activity for anomalies.
- Verify vendor advisory status before marking remediation complete.
- Monitor CVE, Patchstack, and vendor pages for updated fix details.
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-266: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. 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-2025-54697 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
- 7.2 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.25.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.2HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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.
Incorrect Privilege Assignment
Incorrect Privilege Assignment represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.