WordPress, powering a significant portion of the web, has become a prime target for attackers. The surge of new critical vulnerabilities in September 2025, spanning across plugins, themes, and core site functionality, has created an urgent need for action. These vulnerabilities, with their common thread of unauthenticated attack paths, pose a direct route to site compromise, making immediate attention and action imperative.

September 2025 stands out due to the sheer number of vulnerabilities disclosed and the diverse range of plugins and themes affected. From popular tools for e-commerce, podcast publishing, real-estate listings, booking platforms, to nonprofit charities, no niche in the WordPress ecosystem is immune. The widespread deployment of these affected components and the lack of technical sophistication required for exploitation make these vulnerabilities a widespread and serious issue.
These vulnerabilities underscore a critical reality for website owners: security cannot be an afterthought. It must be integrated into everyday operations. The sheer volume of new CVEs means that any delay in patching or monitoring can expose a site. September's disclosures highlight the need for continuous security measures, as they reveal weaknesses in individual plugins, broader patterns of insecure coding practices, and insufficient server-side checks that continue to plague the ecosystem.

In this article, we'll examine each of the most critical CVEs disclosed in September 2025, explore their risks, provide actionable defense strategies for WordPress administrators, and conclude with how Quttera’s services can help secure websites against these ever-evolving threats.

The WooCommerce Multi Locations Inventory Management plugin contained a missing capability check in the wcmlim_settings_ajax_handler. This allowed remote attackers without accounts to update arbitrary WordPress options. With a few crafted requests, an attacker could enable user registration and set the default role to administrator, granting themselves complete control.

Takeaway: For site owners, attackers could create new administrator accounts at will, effectively locking out legitimate users and seizing complete control of the store.

Podlove Podcast Publisher is widely used for managing podcasts, but has mishandled file uploads. The move_as_original_file function failed to validate file types, letting attackers upload malicious PHP payloads under the guise of legitimate media. Once uploaded, these files could be executed, enabling remote code execution and long-term persistence.

Takeaway: For podcast sites, this could allow attackers to plant backdoors, steal sensitive data, or even tamper with audio files and feeds, damaging reputation and audience trust.

Uni CPO, a plugin for WooCommerce product customization, suffered from a misconfigured uni_cpo_upload_file function. The missing validation lets attackers upload arbitrary files directly to the server, bypassing restrictions.

Takeaway: For e-commerce stores, this vulnerability could lead to malware distribution, defaced storefronts, and stolen customer payment data, threatening both sales and compliance obligations.

WPCasa, a real-estate plugin, had insufficient validation in its api_requests function. This enabled unauthenticated attackers to inject and execute code directly on the server.

Takeaway: For property listing sites, exploitation could mean attackers taking over listings, redirecting traffic to fraudulent sites, or embedding malicious scripts in property pages.

BeyondCart Connector suffered from weak JWT handling. Attackers could craft tokens that bypassed authentication altogether, impersonating any user, including administrators.

Takeaway: For store owners, attackers wouldn't need passwords at all—they could log in as admins instantly, leaving traditional protections like strong credentials or MFA completely irrelevant.

The Goza Nonprofit Charity theme included a demo importer that failed to check user capabilities in beplus_import_pack_install_plugin. Attackers could install arbitrary zip archives as plugins, delivering remote code execution.

Takeaway: For nonprofit sites, this could allow attackers to hijack donation pages, inject credit card skimmers, or deface mission-critical content to inspire supporters.

The Service Finder Bookings plugin left its claim_business action unprotected. Attackers who brute-forced or guessed claim IDs could take over accounts, including administrators'.

Takeaway: For booking platforms, this flaw could let attackers cancel appointments, steal customer data, and impersonate business owners—disrupting operations and eroding client trust.

The Doccure theme carried two unauthenticated vulnerabilities: arbitrary file uploads through doccure_temp_upload_to_media and unrestricted password resets. Attackers could either drop malicious files or change administrator passwords outright.

Takeaway: For sites running Doccure, attackers had multiple paths to achieve the same end: a complete website takeover, persistence, and user data theft.

AdForest, a classifieds theme, allowed attackers to bypass authentication entirely. Without a password, they could log in as any user, including administrators.

Takeaway: For classifieds sites, attackers could instantly gain control, inject malicious ads, and manipulate listings for fraud or phishing campaigns.

The risk landscape across these ten vulnerabilities is strikingly similar. Almost every flaw operated without requiring prior authentication, so attackers didn't need valid accounts to exploit them, making automated, wide-scale scanning viable. The weaknesses collapse WordPress's main defense layer, from uploads to token forgeries. Once inside, persistence tactics like planting backdoors or creating hidden admin accounts ensured long-term compromise.

Takeaway: The greatest danger wasn't just the number of flaws, but how easy they were to exploit—no passwords required, just an open door to complete compromise.

Site owners can reduce exposure by adopting disciplined practices. Regular updates are foundational, but automation makes them practical. Staging environments that test updates before rolling them live ensure continuity. The principle of least privilege helps, too: not every staff member needs administrator rights. Upload functionality should be minimized, with server-side checks, MIME validation, and disabling direct code execution in upload directories. Token-based authentication must use strong secrets, rotation policies, and strict claims validation. Finally, monitoring is indispensable. File integrity scanning, admin account alerts, and external malware detection give defenders visibility into subtle breaches that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Takeaway: Security is not a one-time task. To stay ahead of attackers, it requires layered defenses and continuous monitoring.

September 2025 illustrated how dangerous unauthenticated attack vectors remain within the WordPress ecosystem. From WooCommerce plugins allowing arbitrary option updates to themes that let attackers bypass authentication entirely, the vulnerabilities shared one message: if a flaw does not require credentials, exploitation at scale is inevitable.

Defenders must, therefore, focus not just on applying patches but on building resilience. That means enforcing updates as a disciplined process, restricting privileges, securing upload directories, and tightening authentication logic. Yet even the most careful site owner cannot guarantee that every plugin or theme will be flawless. This is where Quttera makes the decisive difference.

Quttera’s Web Malware Scanner combines external and internal scanning to detect both injected scripts visible to visitors and hidden web shells buried in the server. Real-time monitoring ensures that compromises are identified quickly, before attackers can entrench themselves. Our incident response team specializes in WordPress, removing persistent threats without damaging customizations. On the prevention side, Quttera provides guidance and implementation for hardening, offering virtual patching to block zero-day exploits until vendors release fixes.

Final Takeaway: Attackers only need one vulnerability, but defenders need layers of security. Quttera provides those layers, ensuring WordPress sites remain resilient, trustworthy, and secure—even in months like September 2025 when critical flaws shake the ecosystem.