Plugin Name	WordPress Custom Login Page Customizer Plugin
Type of Vulnerability	Privilege escalation
CVE Number	CVE-2025-14975
Urgency	Critical
CVE Publish Date	2026-02-01
Source URL	CVE-2025-14975

Urgent Security Alert: Unauthenticated Arbitrary Password Reset (CVE-2025-14975) — Immediate Actions for WordPress Site Owners

Author: Managed-WP Security Team
Date: 2026-02-01
Tags: wordpress, security, managed-wp, vulnerability, incident-response

Overview: A critical vulnerability in the ‘Custom Login Page Customizer’ WordPress plugin (versions prior to 2.5.4) enables unauthenticated attackers to reset any user’s password arbitrarily, including administrators. This leads to immediate privilege escalation with potential full site compromise. This article outlines how the flaw operates, detection strategies, short-term mitigations including WAF configurations, and comprehensive incident response guidance tailored for WordPress site operators.

Important: This advisory is issued by Managed-WP’s security experts. It contains actionable, expert-level guidance for WordPress administrators, hosting providers, and agencies. Immediate implementation of mitigations and ongoing monitoring is strongly advised.

Executive Summary

On January 30, 2026, a critical security flaw identified as CVE-2025-14975 was disclosed affecting the WordPress plugin “Custom Login Page Customizer” (slug: login-customizer). Versions earlier than 2.5.4 are vulnerable. An attacker can perform an unauthenticated HTTP request to reset passwords of arbitrary users without email verification, allowing rapid site takeover when administrative accounts are targeted.

• Severity: Critical (CVSS score 9.8) — no authentication required, network accessible.
• Attack Vector: Remote, unauthenticated HTTP requests.
• Impact: Arbitrary password reset, admin account compromise, possible full site control.
• Fixed In: Plugin version 2.5.4.
• Research Credited To: Drew Webber (mcdruid).

If you run WordPress sites with this plugin installed on versions older than 2.5.4, immediate remediation or effective short-term defenses must be enacted to prevent exploitation.

The Risk Explained in Straightforward Terms

This vulnerability bypasses WordPress’ built-in password reset protections, allowing anyone on the internet to change the password of any user on the site—even administrators—without access to their email. Because password reset is essentially the recovery channel for account access, such a flaw represents a severe threat that can lead directly to complete site compromise.

Who Should Be Concerned?

• All WordPress sites running the “Custom Login Page Customizer” plugin with version less than 2.5.4.
• Sites relying on this plugin’s custom login or reset endpoints, including AJAX actions.
• Sites without enforced multi-factor authentication for admins.
• Sites without adequate logging, monitoring, or intrusion detection covering password reset activity.

Technical Summary: How This Flaw Works

Without revealing exploit details, the vulnerability arises because the plugin’s password reset endpoint lacks proper token verification and email ownership checks. This lets an unauthenticated party directly assign a new password to any account, including administrators, and gain instant privileged access.

Potential Damage and Attacker Goals

• Unauthorized logins as administrators or any other user.
• Creation of new admin accounts for persistent backdoor access.
• Deployment of malware, backdoors, or defacement scripts.
• Data theft from posts, user details, or site configurations.
• Exploitation of the site for spam, phishing, or SEO abuse campaigns.

Exploitation attempts are likely automated and widespread due to the remote and unauthenticated nature of the vulnerability.

Initial Emergency Actions (Within First 60 Minutes)

1. Containment: Block all requests to plugin-related endpoints using your WAF or server-level rules. If no WAF, restrict access to plugin files with server configuration.
2. Version Check: Verify plugin version on all sites and deactivate if unable to immediately update.
3. Additional Hardening: Enforce two-factor authentication for all admin users, reset admin passwords, rotate API keys and secrets, and forcibly log out all active sessions.
4. Monitoring: Enable enhanced logging and watch for indicators of compromise (outlined below).

This post provides detailed mitigation snippets for WAF and server configurations below.

Short-Term Mitigations

1. Update Plugin ASAP: The ultimate fix is to upgrade to version 2.5.4 or higher across all sites.

2. If immediate update isn’t feasible, consider these options:

A. Disable the Plugin Temporarily: Will remove all custom login functionality but immediately stops exploit risk.

B. Server Access Restrictions: Deny POST requests to vulnerable plugin directories using Nginx or Apache rules.

# Nginx example to block POSTs to plugin folder
location ~* /wp-content/plugins/login-customizer/ {
    if ($request_method = POST) {
        return 403;
    }
}

# Block suspicious admin-ajax.php actions
location = /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php {
    if ($arg_action ~* "(?:lc_reset|login_customizer_reset|login_customizer_reset_password)") {
        return 403;
    }
}

# Apache .htaccess snippet to block POSTs to plugin directory
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
  RewriteEngine On
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} POST
  RewriteRule ^wp-content/plugins/login-customizer/ - [F,L]
</IfModule>

C. Apply WAF Rules: Use your Web Application Firewall to target and deny exploitation attempts. Sample ModSecurity conceptual rule:

SecRule REQUEST_METHOD "POST" "chain,deny,status:403,msg:'Block login-customizer POSTs'"
    SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains /wp-content/plugins/login-customizer/"

Note: Avoid blocking all admin-ajax.php requests indiscriminately; restrict blocking to specific vulnerable action names.

D. Rate Limiting and CAPTCHA: Implement rate limits and CAPTCHAs on password reset forms to reduce automated abuse as a supplementary measure.

Detecting Exploitation Attempts and Compromise

1. Unusual POST activity targeting plugin endpoints or admin-ajax.php suspicious actions.
2. Sudden password changes in the database (compare hashes or timestamps if possible).
3. Unexpected new administrator accounts — check via database queries (sample below).
4. Login events from unknown IPs on admin pages after suspicious resets.
5. Filesystem changes: new or modified PHP files in uploads or plugin directories.
6. Unexpected scheduled tasks or external communications setup via cron jobs.
7. Malware scanner alerts indicating injected code or compromised files.

Incident Response Checklist

1. Contain: Block vulnerable endpoints or take sites offline if required. Rotate all relevant credentials and force logout users.
2. Preserve: Back up site files and database for forensic analysis. Archive server logs from the compromise period.
3. Eradicate: Update or uninstall vulnerable plugin. Remove malicious users and clean altered files.
4. Recover: Rotate admin passwords, enforce 2FA, and gradually restore normal site function post-cleanup.
5. Notify & Learn: Inform stakeholders, document incident details, and refine monitoring and rule sets.

Practical Recovery Commands and Checks

Force logouts (invalidate cookies):
Update the four authentication keys/salts (AUTH_KEY, SECURE_AUTH_KEY, LOGGED_IN_KEY, NONCE_KEY) in wp-config.php.

Reset admin passwords via WP-CLI:

wp user list --role=administrator --fields=ID,user_login,user_email
wp user update 1 --user_pass='StrongNewPassw0rd!'

Identify admin users in the database:

SELECT u.ID, u.user_login, u.user_email, u.user_registered
FROM wp_users u
JOIN wp_usermeta m ON u.ID = m.user_id
WHERE m.meta_key = 'wp_capabilities' AND m.meta_value LIKE '%administrator%';

Scan for suspicious PHP files:

find wp-content/uploads -type f -name '*.php' -ls

Recommended WAF Blocking Rules (Adjust to Your Environment)

Test these in monitoring mode before enforcing to minimize false positives.

Generic URI POST Block (Nginx):

location ~* ^/wp-content/plugins/login-customizer/.*$ {
    if ($request_method = POST) {
        return 403;
    }
}

Block Specific AJAX Actions (Nginx):

if ($request_method = POST) {
    set $block_action 0;
    if ($arg_action ~* "(?:lc_reset_password|login_customizer_reset|reset_password_customizer)") {
        set $block_action 1;
    }
    if ($block_action = 1) {
        return 403;
    }
}

Rate Limiting Password Reset Requests:

limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=reset_zone:10m rate=2r/m;

location = /wp-login.php {
    limit_req zone=reset_zone burst=5 nodelay;
    # existing login handling here
}

ModSecurity Conceptual Rule:

SecRule REQUEST_METHOD "POST" "chain,deny,status:403,msg:'Block unauthenticated password reset via vulnerable plugin'"
    SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains /wp-content/plugins/login-customizer/" "t:none"

Always tailor and test rules to avoid impacting legitimate functionality.

Hardening Recommendations to Avoid Similar Risks

• Keep WordPress core, plugins, and themes updated.
• Limit installed plugins to trusted and regularly audited ones.
• Assign administrator roles sparingly; use least privilege principles.
• Enforce multi-factor authentication (2FA) for all admin users.
• Deploy regular file integrity and malware scanning tools.
• Use a robust WAF with customized and adaptive rules.
• Review plugin code or security reports before installation or updates.
• Maintain strict access controls on all staging and production environments.

Post-Incident Continuous Monitoring

• Track repeated requests to blocked endpoints as reconnaissance attempts.
• Alert on creation of new admin users or unexpected capability changes.
• Monitor for suspicious wp_options modifications and cron jobs.
• Observe outgoing server connections for data exfiltration signs.

If Compromise is Confirmed — Additional Steps

• Assume data may have been accessed; conduct thorough log reviews.
• Rotate credentials for all connected services (hosting, APIs, payment processors).
• Comply with applicable data breach notification regulations if personal or payment data is involved.
• If fully eradicating the threat is uncertain, rebuild the site from verified clean backups and carefully migrate sanitized content.

What to Expect in the Official Patch

• Password resets will enforce single-use, time-limited, unforgeable tokens linked to requested user email.
• Strong verification that requesters are legitimate owners, involving token validation or authenticated sessions.
• Secure input validation and anti-CSRF protections on AJAX endpoints.
• Rate limiting and logging of password reset attempts.

Disclosure Timeline

• Discovery and reporting by security researcher Drew Webber (mcdruid).
• Patch released with plugin version 2.5.4.
• Public disclosure and CVE assignment (CVE-2025-14975) on January 30, 2026.
• Given severity and ease of exploitation, managed WAF defenses should be considered immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: I updated to 2.5.4 — is further action needed?
A: The update is critical. After updating, confirm no suspicious new admin accounts exist, rotate admin passwords, and remove any temporary WAF or server blocks once confirmed safe.

Q: What if the plugin is necessary and cannot be updated immediately?
A: Apply the documented temporary WAF or server-level blocks targeting vulnerable endpoints and consider disabling the plugin until a secure update is possible.

Q: Can this vulnerability directly expose the database?
A: No direct SQL injection occurs. However, attacker-admin access enables installation of backdoors or plugins which may read or modify the database arbitrarily.

Q: Should I change hosting or control panel passwords?
A: Absolutely. If administrator account compromise is suspected, rotate all credentials reachable from the WordPress admin environment, including hosting and FTP credentials.

Immediate 10-Point Action Checklist

1. Identify all sites running affected plugin versions (< 2.5.4).
2. Update plugin to 2.5.4 or later immediately.
3. If unable to update within the hour, deactivate the plugin or apply WAF/server rules blocking vulnerable endpoints.
4. Reset all administrator passwords.
5. Force logout all sessions by rotating authentication keys/salts.
6. Enable multi-factor authentication for all administrators.
7. Search logs for suspicious requests or new admin users.
8. Scan the file system for unexpected PHP files in writable directories.
9. Rotate any API keys or credentials used by the site.
10. Maintain vigilant monitoring of activity for 90 days post-remediation.

How Managed-WP Supports You

Managed-WP offers comprehensive managed Web Application Firewall and security services designed to rapidly block vulnerable endpoints, detect suspicious password reset attempts, and provide expert incident response. Our security platform delivers virtual patching to close exposure gaps prior to plugin updates and includes automated monitoring and remediation support for peace of mind.

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Final Thoughts from Managed-WP Security Experts

This critical vulnerability underscores the vital importance of layered security defenses on WordPress platforms. Secure authentication workflows, multi-factor authentication, least privilege management, and always-on WAF protections must be standard practice.

Should you require expert assistance for rapid vulnerability assessment, temporary defense deployment, or incident cleanup, Managed-WP’s security team stands ready to support your business continuity and site integrity.

Act now — review your WordPress plugin landscape, deploy immediate mitigations, apply updates, and enforce strict administrative controls.

— The Managed-WP Security Team

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References and Further Reading

• CVE-2025-14975 Public Record
• Plugin vendor release notes for version 2.5.4
• Official WordPress plugin repository details
• WordPress Security Hardening Guides (least privilege, 2FA, WAF best practices)

(End of article)

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