CVE-2025-29010

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-29010 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Eleopard Behance Portfolio Manager WordPress plugin (versions <= 1.7.5). This flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels, potentially leading to unauthorized data exposure or manipulation of portfolio settings. The vulnerability resides in the plugin's REST API or AJAX handlers, which fail to properly verify user capabilities before executing sensitive operations.

As a WordPress ecosystem issue, this plugin is commonly used by designers and agencies to showcase Behance projects. The CVSS score of 4.3 (Medium) reflects the low complexity and network-based attack vector, but the lack of authentication requirements elevates the risk in shared hosting environments.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This is a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress Plugin Directory. No known supply chain compromise has been reported, but the absence of a patch increases the risk of malicious actors forking or distributing tampered versions.

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) – Impact confined to the vulnerable component.
• Confidentiality (C): Low (L) – Limited data exposure.
• Integrity (I): None (N) – No data modification.
• Availability (A): None (N) – No denial of service.

Threat Level: Medium. While the direct impact is limited, the vulnerability can be chained with other flaws (e.g., stored XSS) to escalate privileges or exfiltrate sensitive portfolio data.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability stems from missing capability checks in the plugin's REST API endpoints or AJAX actions. The plugin likely registers custom routes (e.g., /wp-json/behance/v1/...) that handle portfolio updates, settings modifications, or data retrieval. Without proper current_user_can() checks, any unauthenticated user can invoke these endpoints.

Root Cause: The plugin uses wp_ajax_* hooks but fails to call check_ajax_referer() or verify user roles. Alternatively, REST API routes are registered with permission_callback set to __return_true or omitted entirely.

Attack Vector: An attacker sends crafted HTTP requests to the vulnerable endpoint, bypassing authentication. For example:

POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=behance_update_portfolio
Content-Type: application/json
{"portfolio_id": 123, "settings": {"visibility": "private"}}

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (<= 1.7.5):

add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_behance_update_portfolio', 'behance_update_portfolio');
function behance_update_portfolio() {
    // No capability check
    $portfolio_id = $_POST['portfolio_id'];
    update_post_meta($portfolio_id, '_behance_settings', $_POST['settings']);
    wp_send_json_success();
}

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

add_action('wp_ajax_behance_update_portfolio', 'behance_update_portfolio');
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_behance_update_portfolio', 'behance_update_portfolio');
function behance_update_portfolio() {
    if (!current_user_can('edit_posts')) {
        wp_send_json_error('Unauthorized', 403);
        return;
    }
    check_ajax_referer('behance_nonce', 'nonce');
    $portfolio_id = intval($_POST['portfolio_id']);
    update_post_meta($portfolio_id, '_behance_settings', $_POST['settings']);
    wp_send_json_success();
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

1. Reconnaissance: Identify WordPress sites using the plugin via Shodan dorks or Google dork inurl:"/wp-content/plugins/portfolio-manager-powered-by-behance".
2. Endpoint Discovery: Enumerate AJAX actions by analyzing the plugin's JavaScript files (e.g., assets/js/admin.js).
3. Exploitation:

   curl -X POST https://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php \
     -d "action=behance_get_portfolio_data&portfolio_id=1" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
   

4. Data Exfiltration: Extract portfolio metadata, user emails, or Behance API keys stored in post meta.

Blue Team

1. Detection: Monitor for unusual AJAX requests to admin-ajax.php with action parameters containing behance_ from unauthenticated sources.
2. Honeypot: Deploy a fake endpoint that logs attacker IPs and payloads.
3. Mitigation: Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests to behance_* actions without a valid nonce.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • HTTP requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=behance_* parameters.
  • Unusual POST data containing portfolio_id or settings keys.
• File IOCs:
  • Modified wp-content/plugins/portfolio-manager-powered-by-behance/ files.
  • Suspicious entries in wp_postmeta with _behance_settings keys.
• Log IOCs:
  • Repeated 200 responses to admin-ajax.php from the same IP without prior login.
  • Error logs showing wp_send_json_success calls from unauthenticated sessions.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_29010_Behance_Missing_Auth {
    meta:
        description = "Detects exploitation attempts of CVE-2025-29010 in Behance Portfolio Manager"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-01"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-29010"
    strings:
        $ajax_action = "action=behance_" nocase
        $portfolio_id = "portfolio_id" nocase
        $settings_key = "_behance_settings" nocase
    condition:
        any of ($ajax_action) and any of ($portfolio_id) and any of ($settings_key)
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-29010 Behance Portfolio Manager Missing Authorization
id: 8a3f7c2e-5d1b-4a9f-8c6e-2b3d1f0a9e7c
status: experimental
description: Detects unauthenticated AJAX requests targeting Behance Portfolio Manager plugin
author: Valters IT
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access_combined
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'admin-ajax.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'action=behance_'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin actions (requires authentication)
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-29010 Behance Portfolio Manager Missing Authorization Attempt"; flow:to_server,established; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"admin-ajax.php"; http_uri; content:"action=behance_"; http_client_body; classtype:attempted-recon; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

1. Immediate Actions:

   • Disable the plugin until a patch is released.
   • Add a WAF rule to block behance_* AJAX actions from unauthenticated users.
   • Review and revoke any API keys stored in the plugin's settings.

2. Long-term Fix:

   • Apply proper capability checks using current_user_can() and nonce verification.
   • Update to the latest version if a patch becomes available.
   • Monitor the vendor's website for security updates.

3. Compensating Controls:

   • Implement a reverse proxy (e.g., Nginx) to restrict access to admin-ajax.php based on IP whitelisting.
   • Use a WordPress security plugin (e.g., Wordfence) to enforce rate limiting and block suspicious requests.

Valters IT
Senior DevSecOps & Cyber Threat Intelligence Expert