Critical WordPress Theme Flaw (CVE-2025-5397, CVSS 9.8) Under Active Exploitation Allows Unauthenticated Admin Takeover

A critical vulnerability in the Jobmonster – Job Board WordPress Theme has been tracked as CVE-2025-5397 with a CVSS score of 9.8, and it is already under active exploitation, according to Wordfence. The flaw enables any unauthenticated attacker to bypass the login process and gain administrative access by exploiting a weakness in the theme’s social login functionality, specifically in the check_login() function, which fails to properly verify identities.

The vulnerability is described as an Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel (CWE-288) with low attack complexity, allowing a full website takeover, including the ability to manipulate site content, exfiltrate candidate data and employer secrets, and install backdoors for later malicious campaigns. Wordfence also noted the vulnerability in the wild, with 1,640 attacks blocked in the past 24 hours.

Security guidance recommends all administrators update to version 8.4.2 of the Jobmonster theme immediately, or as a temporary measure disable the theme’s social login feature until patching is possible. The article, published on 1 November 2025, warns that failure to patch could result in total site compromise. according to Wordfence