CVE-2025-22773

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-22773 is a medium-severity information disclosure vulnerability affecting the WordPress plugin Htaccess File Editor by WP Chill, versions up to and including 1.0.19. The plugin exposes sensitive server configuration files (e.g., .htaccess) via an externally accessible file or directory due to incorrectly configured access controls. An unauthenticated attacker can read the .htaccess file, potentially revealing rewrite rules, IP allow/deny lists, authentication credentials, or other sensitive directives. No public exploit code or proof-of-concept is currently available, and the vendor has not released a patch. The EPSS score is 0.0%, indicating low exploitation likelihood at this time, but the vulnerability remains a risk for sites using the plugin.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is specific to the WordPress plugin ecosystem. The plugin is distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository. Users should verify they are not running version 1.0.19 or earlier. No known supply chain compromise has been reported, but the lack of a patch increases the risk of future exploitation.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 5.3 (Medium)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
• Attack Vector: Network
• Attack Complexity: Low
• Privileges Required: None
• User Interaction: None
• Scope: Unchanged
• Confidentiality Impact: Low (exposure of .htaccess file contents)
• Integrity Impact: None
• Availability Impact: None

The vulnerability is easy to exploit remotely without authentication, but the impact is limited to reading a single configuration file. However, if the .htaccess file contains sensitive data (e.g., passwords, API keys), the actual impact could be higher.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The Htaccess File Editor plugin provides a user interface for editing .htaccess files from the WordPress admin panel. The vulnerability arises from improper access control on the file or directory that stores or serves the .htaccess content. Specifically, the plugin likely exposes the file via a direct URL (e.g., /wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/htaccess.txt or a similar path) without requiring authentication. An attacker can simply request this URL to retrieve the contents of the site's .htaccess file.

The root cause is a missing or misconfigured access control check in the plugin's code. Instead of restricting access to authenticated administrators, the plugin makes the file publicly readable. This is a classic CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) vulnerability.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, we can only describe the vulnerable behavior. A hypothetical patched version would implement proper authentication and authorization checks before serving the file.

Vulnerable Code (Conceptual):

// No access control check
$file_path = ABSPATH . '.htaccess';
if (file_exists($file_path)) {
    header('Content-Type: text/plain');
    readfile($file_path);
}

Patched Code (Conceptual):

// Check if user is an admin
if (current_user_can('manage_options')) {
    $file_path = ABSPATH . '.htaccess';
    if (file_exists($file_path)) {
        header('Content-Type: text/plain');
        readfile($file_path);
    }
} else {
    wp_die('Unauthorized access.');
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• A WordPress site with Htaccess File Editor plugin version <= 1.0.19 installed and activated.
• The .htaccess file must exist (WordPress typically creates one).

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable plugin path. Common paths include:
   • /wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/htaccess.txt
   • /wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/backup.htaccess
   • /wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/htaccess-backup.txt
2. Use curl or a browser to request the file:

   curl -v http://target.com/wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/htaccess.txt
   

3. If successful, the response will contain the contents of the .htaccess file.

Example Output:

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor web server logs for requests to paths containing htaccess-file-editor and htaccess.txt or similar.
• Look for unusual spikes in 200 OK responses to these paths from non-authenticated IPs.

Hunting:

• Search for the plugin in your WordPress installations:

  wp plugin list --field=name | grep htaccess-file-editor
  

• Check the plugin version:

  wp plugin get htaccess-file-editor --field=version
  

Mitigation:

• Immediately disable or delete the plugin if found.
• If the plugin is required, restrict access to the plugin directory via .htaccess rules or a web application firewall (WAF).

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• File Paths:
  • /wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/htaccess.txt
  • /wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/backup.htaccess
  • /wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/htaccess-backup.txt
• HTTP Requests:
  • GET /wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/htaccess.txt
  • GET /wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/backup.htaccess
• Response Headers:
  • Content-Type: text/plain (when accessing the file)
• Log Patterns:
  • "GET /wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/htaccess.txt HTTP/1.1" 200

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_22773_Htaccess_File_Editor_Exposure {
    meta:
        description = "Detects exposure of .htaccess file via Htaccess File Editor plugin"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-22773"
        severity = "medium"
    strings:
        $s1 = "htaccess-file-editor" ascii wide nocase
        $s2 = "htaccess.txt" ascii wide nocase
        $s3 = "backup.htaccess" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        any of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-22773 - Htaccess File Editor Information Disclosure
id: 8a9b3c4d-5e6f-7a8b-9c0d-1e2f3a4b5c6d
status: experimental
description: Detects HTTP requests to exposed .htaccess files via the Htaccess File Editor plugin
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
references:
    - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-22773
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access_combined
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - '/wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/htaccess.txt'
            - '/wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/backup.htaccess'
            - '/wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/htaccess-backup.txt'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin access (rare)
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2025-22773 - Htaccess File Editor Information Disclosure Attempt";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"GET";
    http_method;
    content:"/wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/";
    http_uri;
    content:"htaccess.txt";
    http_uri;
    classtype:attempted-recon;
    sid:10000001;
    rev:1;
    reference:cve,2025-22773;
    priority:2;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable or delete the Htaccess File Editor plugin from all WordPress installations.
2. Verify that no other plugins or themes are exposing sensitive files.
3. Review web server logs for any unauthorized access to the plugin's paths.

Long-Term Mitigation:

• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests to /wp-content/plugins/htaccess-file-editor/.
• Use file permissions to restrict access to plugin directories (e.g., chmod 750).
• Regularly audit WordPress plugins for known vulnerabilities.
• Subscribe to security advisories for WordPress plugins.

Patch Status: No official patch is available. The vendor (WP Chill) has not responded. Users must remove the plugin to eliminate the risk.

Valters IT
DevSecOps & Cyber Threat Intelligence