CVE-2025-14444: 
WordPress vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2025-14444 is a payment bypass vulnerability in the RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms, User Registration, Payment, and User Login plugin for WordPress. It affects all versions up to and including 6.0.6.9 and allows unauthenticated attackers to bypass paid registration by manipulating client-supplied payment status values in the process_paypal_sdk_payment function without completing an actual PayPal transaction. The vulnerability was published on February 18, 2026, and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3 (Medium) (Red Hat CVE).

The root cause is classified as CWE-345 (Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity). The process_paypal_sdk_payment function trusts client-supplied values to determine whether a PayPal payment was completed, without performing server-side verification against the PayPal API to confirm the transaction's authenticity. An unauthenticated attacker can craft an HTTP request to this function with a manipulated payment status (e.g., marking the payment as successful) to activate their account without making a real payment. No authentication or user interaction is required, and the attack is executable remotely over the network (Red Hat CVE).

Successful exploitation allows unauthenticated users to register and activate accounts on WordPress sites using RegistrationMagic without paying the required fees, directly undermining the site's monetization and access control mechanisms. The integrity impact is low and scoped to the affected application — there is no confidentiality or availability impact. Sites offering paid memberships, gated content, or premium services are most at risk of financial loss and unauthorized access (Red Hat CVE).

There is no public evidence of active in-the-wild exploitation or weaponized exploit kits for CVE-2025-14444 at this time. The EPSS score is very low at approximately 0.008%, indicating a low probability of exploitation in the near term. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. No threat actor attribution has been reported (Red Hat CVE).

1. Reconnaissance: Identify WordPress sites running the RegistrationMagic plugin version 6.0.6.9 or earlier with paid registration forms enabled (e.g., via WPScan or manual inspection of plugin metadata).
2. Initiate registration: Begin the registration process on a paid form, proceeding to the PayPal payment step to observe the client-side payment flow and identify the process_paypal_sdk_payment endpoint and its expected parameters.
3. Intercept and manipulate request: Using a proxy tool (e.g., Burp Suite), intercept the HTTP request sent to process_paypal_sdk_payment after the payment step and modify the payment status parameter to indicate a successful payment (e.g., setting status to COMPLETED or equivalent).
4. Submit manipulated request: Forward the tampered request to the server. Because the plugin does not validate the payment against PayPal's API, it accepts the client-supplied status as legitimate.
5. Account activation: The plugin activates the attacker's account as if payment was received, granting access to paid content or features without any real financial transaction (Red Hat CVE).

• Logs: WordPress access logs showing POST requests to the process_paypal_sdk_payment endpoint with no corresponding PayPal transaction ID that can be verified in PayPal's transaction history.
• Application: New user accounts activated on paid registration forms with no matching PayPal payment records in the site's payment logs or PayPal dashboard.
• Network: Absence of outbound server-side verification calls to PayPal's API (e.g., api.paypal.com) following registration events, which would be expected in a properly implemented payment flow.

Users should update the RegistrationMagic plugin to a version beyond 6.0.6.9 that addresses this vulnerability. As a temporary workaround, site administrators can disable paid registration forms until a patched version is applied, or manually verify PayPal transactions against the PayPal dashboard before approving new registrations. Administrators should also audit recently created accounts on paid forms to identify any that may have bypassed payment (Red Hat CVE).