CVE-2025-3918: Job Listings 0.1 - 0.1.1 - Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation via register_action Function

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.6% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-05-03 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-285

Description

The Job Listings plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation due to improper authorization within the register_action() function in versions 0.1 to 0.1.1. The plugin’s registration handler reads the client-supplied $_POST['user_role'] and passes it directly to wp_insert_user() without restricting to a safe set of roles. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to elevate their privileges to that of an administrator.

Affected products

nootheme Job Listings: from 0.1 through 0.1.1

References

https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/job-listings/trunk/includes/forms/class-jlt-form-member.php#L68
https://wordpress.org/plugins/job-listings/#developers
https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/c9cd43f5-c3d0-4eb2-9c18-1af2edca37ff?source=cve

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