CVE-2026-25005: 
WordPress vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2026-25005 is an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) / Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the N-Media Frontend File Manager WordPress plugin (nmedia-user-file-uploader). It affects all versions up to and including 23.5, with version 23.6 being the patched release. The vulnerability was reported on December 17, 2025, and published on January 16, 2026 by Patchstack. It carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3 (Medium) (Patchstack).

The root cause is classified as CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key), meaning the plugin fails to properly validate that a requesting user is authorized to access the object identified by a user-supplied key or identifier. This allows an unauthenticated attacker to manipulate object references in HTTP requests to access files, folders, or data belonging to other users. No authentication or special privileges are required, and the attack is conducted entirely over the network with low complexity (Patchstack).

Successful exploitation results in unauthorized read access to sensitive files or folders managed by the plugin, impacting confidentiality. Integrity and availability are not directly affected by this vulnerability. Because the plugin is designed to handle user-uploaded files on WordPress sites, an attacker could potentially access private or sensitive documents uploaded by other users (Patchstack).

No public proof-of-concept exploit code or in-the-wild exploitation has been reported for this vulnerability. The EPSS score is approximately 0.017%, indicating a low probability of exploitation in the near term. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. Patchstack notes that vulnerabilities of this class are sometimes used in mass-exploit campaigns targeting WordPress plugins at scale, regardless of site popularity (Patchstack).

The vendor has released version 23.6 of the Frontend File Manager plugin, which resolves this vulnerability. Site administrators should update the plugin to version 23.6 or later immediately via the WordPress admin dashboard. Patchstack users can enable auto-update for vulnerable plugins as an additional safeguard. If an immediate update is not possible, consult your hosting provider or web developer for assistance (Patchstack).