CVE-2025-9266: Accelerate WordPress theme, not ML

CISO Take

This CVE affects the WordPress theme named 'Accelerate' (versions up to 1.5.3), which is missing a capability check on its enqueue_scripts() function, letting any authenticated Subscriber-level user force-install and activate the ThemeGrill Demo Importer plugin. Despite triggering our AI-category classifier under 'accelerate', this has no relationship to the Hugging Face Accelerate Python library (ml_library, pip) tracked in our AI/ML package inventory — it is a naming collision between a WordPress theme and an unrelated ML tooling package, and no AI/ML pipeline, model, or agent is exposed. EPSS sits at 0.16th percentile (bottom of the distribution), there is no public exploit or Nuclei template, CISA SSVC is TRACK, and CVSS is only 4.3 (medium) since impact is limited to unauthorized plugin activation, not direct data compromise. For AI/ML security teams this requires no action; if your organization separately runs WordPress sites with the Accelerate theme, update to 1.5.4 and audit which plugins Subscriber-tier accounts can trigger.

Sources: NVD EPSS wordfence.com

What is the risk?

Risk to AI/ML systems is effectively zero — this is a CMS plugin-activation flaw in a WordPress theme, not a vulnerability in any machine learning framework, model server, or AI pipeline component. Within its actual (non-AI) context the risk is low-to-moderate: low complexity and no user interaction required, but impact is capped at integrity (forcing a plugin install), not confidentiality or availability, and it requires an already-authenticated Subscriber account.

How does the attack unfold?

Initial Access

Attacker obtains or registers a Subscriber-level WordPress account on a site running the vulnerable Accelerate theme.

Exploitation

Attacker invokes enqueue_scripts(), which lacks a capability check, to trigger unauthorized plugin actions.

Impact

The ThemeGrill Demo Importer plugin is force-installed and activated, expanding the attacker's foothold on the WordPress site with no effect on any AI/ML system.

Initial Access

Attacker obtains or registers a Subscriber-level WordPress account on a site running the vulnerable Accelerate theme.

Exploitation

Attacker invokes enqueue_scripts(), which lacks a capability check, to trigger unauthorized plugin actions.

Impact

The ThemeGrill Demo Importer plugin is force-installed and activated, expanding the attacker's foothold on the WordPress site with no effect on any AI/ML system.

What systems are affected?

Package	Ecosystem	Vulnerable Range	Patched
Accelerate	pip	—	No patch
9.9K OpenSSF 6.6 3.0K dependents Pushed 6d ago 0% patched Full package profile →

Do you use Accelerate? You're affected.

How severe is it?

CVSS 3.1

4.3 / 10

EPSS

0.2%

chance of exploitation in 30 days

Higher than 5% of all CVEs

Source: EPSS v3 — FIRST.org

Exploitation Status

No known exploitation

Sophistication

Trivial

What is the attack surface?

AV Network

AC Low

PR Low

UI None

S Unchanged

C None

I Low

A None

What should I do?

1 step

This does not require AI/ML-specific mitigation. For organizations running the affected WordPress theme: update Accelerate to version 1.5.4 or later, which adds the missing capability check. As a compensating control, review which roles can reach admin-ajax actions tied to enqueue_scripts() and restrict Subscriber-level registration where not needed. No action is needed for teams using the Hugging Face Accelerate ML library — it is unaffected.

What does CISA's SSVC say?

Decision Track

Exploitation none

Automatable No

Technical Impact partial

Source: CISA Vulnrichment (SSVC v2.0). Decision based on the CISA Coordinator decision tree.

How is it classified?

Auth Bypass Plugin

Which compliance frameworks are affected?

Compliance analysis pending. Sign in for full compliance mapping when available.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-9266?

This CVE affects the WordPress theme named 'Accelerate' (versions up to 1.5.3), which is missing a capability check on its enqueue_scripts() function, letting any authenticated Subscriber-level user force-install and activate the ThemeGrill Demo Importer plugin. Despite triggering our AI-category classifier under 'accelerate', this has no relationship to the Hugging Face Accelerate Python library (ml_library, pip) tracked in our AI/ML package inventory — it is a naming collision between a WordPress theme and an unrelated ML tooling package, and no AI/ML pipeline, model, or agent is exposed. EPSS sits at 0.16th percentile (bottom of the distribution), there is no public exploit or Nuclei template, CISA SSVC is TRACK, and CVSS is only 4.3 (medium) since impact is limited to unauthorized plugin activation, not direct data compromise. For AI/ML security teams this requires no action; if your organization separately runs WordPress sites with the Accelerate theme, update to 1.5.4 and audit which plugins Subscriber-tier accounts can trigger.

Is CVE-2025-9266 actively exploited?

No confirmed active exploitation of CVE-2025-9266 has been reported, but organizations should still patch proactively.

How to fix CVE-2025-9266?

This does not require AI/ML-specific mitigation. For organizations running the affected WordPress theme: update Accelerate to version 1.5.4 or later, which adds the missing capability check. As a compensating control, review which roles can reach admin-ajax actions tied to enqueue_scripts() and restrict Subscriber-level registration where not needed. No action is needed for teams using the Hugging Face Accelerate ML library — it is unaffected.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-9266?

CVE-2025-9266 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.3 (MEDIUM). The EPSS exploitation probability is 0.16%.

What are the technical details?

Original Advisory

The Accelerate theme for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing capability check on the enqueue_scripts() function in all versions up to, and including, 1.5.3. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to install and activate the ThemeGrill Demo Importer plugin.

Exploitation Scenario

An attacker registers or compromises a low-privilege Subscriber account on a WordPress site running the vulnerable Accelerate theme, then calls the unprotected enqueue_scripts() function to force installation and activation of the ThemeGrill Demo Importer plugin. Once active, that plugin — which has its own history of destructive vulnerabilities (e.g., data-wipe issues) — expands the attacker's foothold toward broader site compromise. This entire chain occurs within the WordPress CMS layer and does not touch any AI/ML training, inference, or agent infrastructure.

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-862 Missing Authorization Primary CWE-862 Missing Authorization

CWE-862 — Missing Authorization: The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.

[Architecture and Design] Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) [REF-229] to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries. Note that this approach may not protect against horizontal authorization, i.e., it will not protect a user from attacking others with the same role.
[Architecture and Design] Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records. For example, a database may restrict access for medical records to a specific database user, but each record might only be intended to be accessible to the patient and the patient's doctor [REF-7].

Source: MITRE CWE corpus.