CVE-2025-14047 WP User Frontend SQL Injection. An unauthorized data loss vulnerability affects the WP User Frontend plugin for WordPress. Tracked as CVE-2025-14047 with a CVSS score of 5.3 (Medium), this flaw targets the Registration, User Profile, Membership, Content Restriction, User Directory, and Frontend Post Submission plugin. Attackers can delete data without proper authorization. WP User Frontend has over 5,000 active installations. Membership sites, online communities, and content platforms use it widely. These sites manage user interactions from the frontend of their website.
WP User Frontend handles user registration, profile management, content submission, and membership functionality entirely from the frontend of a WordPress site. Its features include custom registration forms with field validation, frontend post submission with drag-and-drop form builder, user profile editing and management, membership and subscription management with payment gateway integration, content restriction based on user roles or membership levels, user directory with search and filtering capabilities, and email notification management for user actions. This makes it a central component for any site that needs to manage user-generated content or membership subscriptions without requiring users to access the WordPress admin area.
The vulnerability stems from missing or insufficient capability checks on data deletion endpoints. An unauthenticated or low-privileged attacker can exploit this to delete user data, posts, or configuration settings. These should remain protected. The specific endpoints handle the deletion of user profiles, post submissions, membership records, and form entries. WP User Frontend manages a broad range of data, so the potential for disruption is significant.
CVE-2025-14047 WP User Frontend SQL injection: The Vulnerability in Detail
The vulnerable code involves WordPress REST API endpoints or AJAX handlers that process deletion requests for user data and content. The plugin registers these endpoints to let frontend users manage their own content. However, the authorization checks are either missing entirely or insufficient to prevent one user from deleting another user’s data. The affected endpoints may include handlers for deleting user accounts, removing post submissions, canceling membership subscriptions, and deleting form entries or uploaded files.
In a properly secured implementation, each deletion endpoint would verify that the authenticated user owns the data under deletion. It would also check for higher-level capabilities like delete_others_posts or manage_options. WP User Frontend in the vulnerable versions fails to enforce these ownership checks consistently. Attackers can enumerate user IDs or post IDs and submit deletion requests for targets they do not own. The server processes the request because it only checks that the user is authenticated. It does not check that the user has authorization to delete the specific data.
The attack flow typically works as follows: The attacker registers a low-privileged account on the target site if one is needed. They identify the deletion endpoint URLs. These are often discoverable through plugin documentation, source code analysis, or by monitoring legitimate AJAX requests made by the plugin. The attacker crafts requests targeting specific user IDs, post IDs, or record IDs for deletion. Each request goes out with the attacker’s authentication cookie or nonce. The server processes the deletion because the endpoint does not verify ownership or sufficient capabilities. The attacker can automate this process to delete large amounts of data quickly. They could potentially delete all user profiles, membership records, or frontend submissions on the site.
CVE-2025-14047 WP User Frontend SQL injection: Impact and CVSS Breakdown
- CVSS Score: 5.3 (Medium)
- Attack Vector: Network
- Attack Complexity: Low
- Privileges Required: None (unauthenticated exploitation possible)
- User Interaction: None
- Scope: Unchanged
- Confidentiality Impact: None (attackers delete data, not expose it)
- Integrity Impact: Low (unauthorized data deletion)
- Availability Impact: None
- Affected Versions: WP User Frontend plugin for WordPress
The CVSS score of 5.3 reflects the medium severity of this unauthorized data deletion vulnerability. The attacker cannot steal or modify data, but the ability to delete data without authorization can cause significant operational disruption. The impact hits membership sites harder where user data includes personal information, subscription records, payment histories, and custom content submissions. If an attacker deletes user profiles or membership records, the site loses its user base and revenue stream. Recovering from such an attack requires restoring from backup. This means losing any data created since the last backup.
This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous for membership sites where user data includes personal information, subscription records, and custom content submissions. If an attacker deletes user profiles or membership records, the impact on site operations and user trust can be severe. Users who lose their profiles may lose access to purchased content, active subscriptions, and their user history. Rebuilding user trust after a data loss incident is often more difficult than recovering the technical infrastructure.
Data at Risk
User Profiles and Account Data
The data an attacker can delete through this vulnerability spans the full range of WP User Frontend functionality. User profiles and account data are at the top of the risk list. Every registered user’s profile information can be deleted. This includes custom fields, profile pictures, and account settings. For membership sites, this severs the connection between users and their subscription status. It effectively locks users out of member-only content.
Frontend Post Submissions
Frontend post submissions are another high-value target. Sites that accept user-generated content through WP User Frontend store these submissions as WordPress posts or custom post types. An attacker can delete all submitted content. This removes user reviews, community posts, portfolio items, or job listings that users have contributed over months or years. This type of data loss is particularly damaging because the content represents user investment in the community. Recreating it requires users to resubmit their work.
Membership and Subscription Records
Membership and subscription records control access to paid content and recurring revenue. If attackers delete these records, the site loses its subscription management database. Active subscribers may lose access to content they have paid for. This leads to support requests, refund demands, and damage to the site’s reputation. The financial impact includes not only lost subscription revenue during the recovery period. It also includes the cost of customer support and potential refunds.
Form Entries and Uploaded Files
Form entries and uploaded files represent additional data loss vectors. WP User Frontend handles custom form submissions and file uploads from frontend users. An attacker can delete form entries containing customer inquiries, support tickets, or survey responses. Uploaded files such as documents, images, and user-generated media attachments can also be removed. This potentially violates data retention requirements if users rely on the site to store these files.
Protecting Against Unauthorized Data Access
Update Immediately
Site owners using WP User Frontend should update to the latest version immediately. The plugin developers have released a patched version. It adds proper capability checks and ownership verification to all deletion endpoints. If you are using an older version, check the WordPress plugin repository for the latest update. Apply it as soon as possible.
Defense in Depth
Beyond updating, the most effective protection is defense in depth. Use a security plugin with a Web Application Firewall to block exploitation attempts. The firewall can detect patterns of mass deletion requests and block the attacker before significant damage occurs. Enable activity logging to track data deletion and modification events. If an attacker does manage to delete data, the activity log records what attackers deleted and when. This record is essential for restoration efforts.
Audit and Backup
Regularly audit user accounts and permissions. Remove inactive user accounts. Ensure that users have only the capabilities they need. Review registered users periodically for suspicious accounts. Implement regular database backups so data can be restored if deleted. Configure automated backups to run at least daily and store them off-site or in a separate cloud storage service that is not accessible from the WordPress server. A backup from before the attack is the only reliable way to recover deleted data.
Trusti Security Solution
Trusti Security provides all of these features. Its Activity Logging module tracks every post deletion, user modification, and configuration change. The Firewall module can block suspicious patterns before they reach your WordPress installation. Combined with regular Core Integrity Scanner checks, your site stays protected even when attackers discover plugin vulnerabilities. The User Role Management module lets you define exactly which capabilities each user role has. It provides an additional layer of authorization that can block exploitation even if a plugin’s own checks are insufficient.
WP User Frontend is available on WordPress.org at wordpress.org/plugins/wp-user-frontend/. Update to the latest version immediately.