CVE-2025-14845 nsthemes CVE debrief

Who should care

WordPress administrators and security teams responsible for maintaining plugins should assess exposure and prioritize verification and potential updates. They should also monitor for unauthorized changes and implement additional request validation to prevent unauthorized modifications. Ensuring the security of plugin configurations is crucial to prevent potential exploitation and maintain the integrity of WordPress installations.

Why it matters

CVE-2025-14845 is a CSRF vulnerability in the NS IE Compatibility Fixer plugin for WordPress. It allows attackers to modify plugin settings without authentication by tricking administrators into performing specific actions. WordPress administrators and security teams should verify exposure, prioritize updates or mitigations, and monitor for unauthorized changes.

• Verify and update to a patched plugin version if available
• Implement additional request validation to prevent unauthorized changes
• Monitor plugin settings for signs of unauthorized modifications

Technical summary

The NS IE Compatibility Fixer plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF). The plugin fails to validate nonces on settings updates, allowing attackers to modify settings by tricking administrators into performing actions like clicking a link. The vulnerability exists in all versions up to and including 2.1.5. This issue arises from inadequate security measures in the plugin's settings update functionality, enabling attackers to make unauthorized changes without proper authentication. To mitigate, it is crucial to update to a patched version if available and ensure proper validation of requests to prevent unauthorized changes.

Defensive priority

Administrators of WordPress installations with the NS IE Compatibility Fixer plugin should verify and update to a patched version if available, and ensure proper validation of requests to prevent unauthorized changes.

Recommended defensive actions

• Verify WordPress installation for NS IE Compatibility Fixer plugin version 2.1.5 or earlier
• Check for and apply plugin updates if available
• Implement additional validation for requests to prevent unauthorized changes
• Monitor plugin settings for unauthorized modifications
• Review compensating controls for exposed systems while remediation is scheduled and verified
• Track exceptions, retest remediated assets, and close the item only after evidence is documented
• Confirm whether affected product deployments exist in managed environments and assign an owner for follow-up

Evidence notes

The vulnerability is confirmed by the CVE Program and NVD records. Details are provided by Wordfence security researchers. However, specific versions, exploitation details, and remediation steps require further verification from official sources.

Sources and references

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.