As a catastrophic security flaw, CVE-2025-15018 has severe implications, demanding immediate intervention.
Status: Awaiting Analysis
Last updated: 🕕 08 Jan 2026, 18:08 UTC
Originally published on: 🕛 07 Jan 2026, 12:16 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 1 days
CVSS Release: version 3
security@wordfence.com
Primary
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE-2025-15018: The Optional Email plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation via Account Takeover in all versions up to, and including, 1.3.11. This is due to the plugin not restricting its 'random_password' filter to registration contexts, allowing the filter to affect password reset key generation. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to set a known password reset key when initiating a password reset, reset the password of any user including administrators, and gain access to their accounts.
The exploitability of CVE-2025-15018 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2025-15018 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2025-15018, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2025-15018, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
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