Introduction: Good News and Bad News
The first half of 2025 has been a defining period for WordPress security. The ecosystem is seeing record numbers of vulnerability disclosures, a growing professionalization of the research community, and rising regulatory pressure from frameworks like the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).
This article analyzes the most important trends shaping the WordPress security landscape mid-year, based on aggregated vulnerability disclosures, CVE data, and bug bounty program reports.
The Good News
The WordPress security community is finding and disclosing more vulnerabilities than ever before. Each disclosure creates a window of opportunity for site owners and service providers to patch systems before attackers exploit them.
The Bad News
The volume of vulnerabilities continues to rise, and a significant proportion are exploitable in real-world scenarios. Regulatory expectations are also increasing, meaning organizations that fail to act face not just technical risks but legal and reputational consequences.
Key Statistics
- 6,700 new vulnerabilities were reported in the first six months of 2025
- 41% of these are considered exploitable under real-world conditions
Data Sources and Methodology
This analysis draws on data from multiple authoritative sources to provide a comprehensive view of the WordPress security landscape:
Public CVE Entries
Official Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures database entries
Research Communities
Vulnerability research communities and bug bounty programs
Coordinated Disclosure
Coordinated disclosure platforms and responsible research initiatives
Independent Researchers
Independent security researchers and vulnerability discovery programs
Note: The figures reflect the combined reporting across plugins, themes, and WordPress core, rather than any single vendor's dataset. This provides a more accurate picture of the overall ecosystem risk.
Key Insights: CVSS vs. Real-World Priority
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) remains a useful baseline for assessing severity, but its generalized scoring often doesn't reflect the real-world exploitability of vulnerabilities in the WordPress ecosystem.
Critical Finding
Many issues rated "medium" on CVSS are trivial to exploit if they affect popular plugins or have working exploits in the wild. In practice, risk-based prioritization methods flag nearly twice as many vulnerabilities as "high priority" compared to those relying on CVSS 9+ alone.
Trend: The proportion of exploitable vulnerabilities has grown from 30.4% in 2024 to 41.5% in 2025, indicating both an increase in disclosures and a shift toward more severe issues.
CVSS Limitations
- • Generic scoring doesn't account for plugin popularity
- • Ignores availability of working exploits
- • Doesn't factor in attack automation
- • Missing WordPress-specific context
Risk-Based Prioritization
- • Considers plugin install base
- • Tracks exploit availability
- • Monitors active exploitation
- • WordPress ecosystem context
Top 5 Vulnerability Types (H1 2025)
| Rank | Vulnerability Type | Share | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) | 34.7% | Session hijacking, data theft |
| 2 | Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) | 19.0% | Unauthorized actions |
| 3 | Local File Inclusion (LFI) | 12.6% | Code execution, data access |
| 4 | Broken Access Control | 10.9% | Privilege escalation |
| 5 | SQL Injection (SQLi) | 7.2% | Database compromise |
Key Observations
- XSS dominates — Almost twice as prevalent as the next category, representing the single most common vulnerability type.
- CSRF and LFI combined — Together account for another 30%+ of all reports, highlighting input validation issues.
- Root cause — Most of these vulnerabilities stem from insecure handling of user input and lack of proper sanitization or capability checks.
- No authentication required — Many of these vulnerability types often require no authentication, making them ideal targets for automated attacks.
Critical Implications
For Website Owners:
Sites running vulnerable plugins are at risk of data theft, session hijacking, or malicious script injection. Regular security audits are essential.
For Hosting Providers:
Compromised sites can lead to IP blacklisting, increased support load, and reputational fallout if hosted on shared infrastructure.
Prerequisites: Most Attacks Don't Require Login
One of the most concerning trends in the 2025 data is the high proportion of vulnerabilities that can be exploited without any authentication whatsoever:
Exploitable by anyone, including bots
Low-privilege user account needed
Basic registered user account
Impact: Automated Attack Vulnerability
This means that large-scale automated attacks can exploit most vulnerabilities without compromising user accounts. Attackers can use botnets to scan and exploit millions of sites without ever needing to crack passwords or steal credentials.
Security Implication: While "least privilege" policies remain important, fast patching and mitigation are even more critical to prevent widespread exploitation. Our WordPress maintenance service ensures rapid response to emerging threats.
Why This Matters for WooCommerce Stores
WooCommerce stores are particularly attractive targets because they process payments and store customer data. A vulnerability requiring no authentication means attackers can potentially access customer information, inject malicious code, or disrupt operations without ever logging in. Learn more about protecting WooCommerce customer data.
Where Vulnerabilities Occur
| Component | # of Vulnerabilities | Share | Risk Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plugins | 3,044 | 89% | CRITICAL |
| Themes | 386 | 11% | HIGH |
| WordPress Core | 1 | ~0% | LOW |
Plugins: The Primary Risk Vector
Plugins continue to be the primary source of risk, representing almost 90% of reported issues. This massive share highlights why proper plugin management is critical for WordPress security.
Recommended action: Review your plugin inventory with our WordPress security audit service to identify and remove unnecessary or vulnerable plugins.
Themes: Growing Scrutiny
Themes, particularly premium ones, are seeing more scrutiny than in previous years, partly because more researchers are expanding their scope beyond plugins.
This 11% share represents a notable increase from previous years, indicating that themes can no longer be overlooked in security assessments.
WordPress Core: Exceptionally Secure
WordPress core remains comparatively secure thanks to its open development model and widespread peer review. Only 1 vulnerability was found in core during H1 2025.
In contrast, plugin and theme security practices vary significantly, depending on developer maturity and resources. This is why the shift to Gutenberg blocks can improve security.
Who Reports the Most?
A handful of security organizations and research communities account for the majority of disclosures. This concentration has both advantages and challenges for the WordPress ecosystem.
Positive Developments
- Consolidated reporting through CVE allows the broader ecosystem to react more consistently
- Bug bounty participation is growing, shortening the time between vulnerability introduction and discovery
- More findings enter public record, improving transparency and awareness
Areas of Concern
- Concentration risk: Dependency on few active researchers
- Coverage gaps: Many plugins/themes remain unexamined
- Disclosure delays: Time lag between discovery and public notification
The distribution shows how concentrated vulnerability discovery remains among a few active players — while this ensures quality, it also means that undiscovered vulnerabilities may exist in less-scrutinized plugins and themes.
2025 vs 2024: Shifting Patterns
2024 Baseline
- • 7,966 total vulnerabilities disclosed
- • 30.4% exploitable in real-world conditions
- • 96% in plugins, 4% in themes
- • Moderate researcher activity
H1 2025 (6 months)
- • 6,700 vulnerabilities (on pace for ~13,400 annually)
- • 41.5% exploitable (+11.1 percentage points)
- • 89% in plugins, 11% in themes
- • Increased researcher participation
Overall Disclosures Are Up Significantly
At the current pace, 2025 is projected to see approximately 68% more vulnerability disclosures than 2024. This is driven by both increased researcher activity and broader theme coverage.
Exploitable Vulnerabilities Have Increased
The share of exploitable vulnerabilities jumped from 30.4% to 41.5%, underscoring the need for faster response times and proactive security measures. Consider our emergency response service for critical situations.
Theme Vulnerabilities Are Rising
Themes increased from 4% to 11% of total vulnerabilities, reflecting a diversification of research targets. Premium themes are now receiving the same scrutiny previously reserved for popular plugins.
Core Remains Stable
WordPress core continues to demonstrate exceptional security, with only a handful of low-risk vulnerabilities reported. This validates the open-source security model.
Key Conclusion
These trends indicate that the WordPress ecosystem is improving at identifying and reporting vulnerabilities — but the remediation gap remains a critical issue. The time between disclosure and patching is the window of maximum risk.
Strategic Takeaways for 2025
For Hosting Providers
- Integrate vulnerability intelligence into platforms to detect threats early and notify customers proactively
- Automate mitigation where possible to reduce exposure windows (e.g., automatic plugin disabling for critical CVEs)
- Educate customers on the risks of outdated plugins through dashboards, emails, and educational content
- Treat security as a core service, not an optional add-on — it's now a competitive differentiator
For Plugin and Theme Developers
- Prepare for upcoming CRA requirements by formalizing disclosure and response processes (EU Cyber Resilience Act compliance is coming)
- Review input handling and capability checks systematically — these are the root causes of most vulnerabilities
- Collaborate with security researchers through structured bug bounty programs and coordinated disclosure
- Follow WordPress secure coding guidelines and implement security testing in CI/CD pipelines
For Agencies and Site Owners
- Shift from reactive cleanup to preventive security — waiting for breaches is no longer acceptable
- Include vulnerability monitoring and timely patching in maintenance contracts — make it a standard deliverable
- Don't rely solely on backups and core updates — the majority of risks (89%) are in third-party plugins
- Partner with security specialists for regular security audits and penetration testing
Pro Tip: The most successful organizations treat security as an ongoing process, not a one-time checklist. Regular monitoring, rapid response, and continuous improvement are the keys to staying ahead of threats.
Conclusion
The mid-year data for 2025 paints a clear picture of the WordPress security landscape:
Improving
Vulnerability discovery and disclosure processes are becoming more mature and effective
Increasing
The severity and volume of exploitable issues continue to rise at an alarming rate
Regulatory
Legal and reputational risks are rising in parallel with technical threats
The Bottom Line
Vulnerabilities are inevitable in a large, open ecosystem like WordPress. The differentiator is how quickly and effectively stakeholders respond. Hosting providers, developers, agencies, and site owners all have a role to play in raising the baseline level of security ahead of the EU Cyber Resilience Act and similar initiatives.
The organizations that will thrive are those that view security not as a cost center, but as a strategic investment in customer trust, regulatory compliance, and long-term sustainability.
Take Action Today
Don't wait for the next vulnerability disclosure to affect your site. Proactive security is the only effective defense in 2025.
Further Reading
WordPress Vulnerability Database
Comprehensive database of WordPress vulnerabilities and threat intelligence
EU Cyber Resilience Act Overview
Understanding upcoming EU regulations for digital product security
Secure Coding Guidelines for WordPress
Official WordPress security best practices for developers
WordPress Security Update September 2025
Monthly analysis of WordPress security trends and mitigation strategies
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