CVE-2025-54045

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-54045 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the WordPress plugin CM On Demand Search And Replace by CreativeMindsSolutions. This flaw allows authenticated attackers with low privileges to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels, potentially leading to unauthorized access to search and replace functionality. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 1.5.5. As of this report, no official patch has been released, and the vendor’s patch status remains unknown. The CVSS score is 4.3 (Medium), with a low EPSS probability of exploitation (0.0%). Given the WordPress ecosystem context, this vulnerability could be chained with other flaws to escalate privileges or leak sensitive data.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability resides in a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository and third-party marketplaces. Organizations using this plugin should treat it as a supply chain risk, as no patched version is available. Dependency scanning tools (e.g., WPScan, Snyk) should flag versions <= 1.5.5 as vulnerable.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
• Base Score: 4.3 (Medium)
• Attack Vector: Network (AV:N)
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L)
• Privileges Required: Low (PR:L) – attacker needs a valid WordPress user account (e.g., subscriber).
• User Interaction: None (UI:N)
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U)
• Confidentiality Impact: Low (C:L) – potential exposure of search/replace data.
• Integrity Impact: None (I:N)
• Availability Impact: None (A:N)

Threat Level: Medium. Exploitation requires authentication but no special privileges. The lack of a patch increases risk for unmonitored installations.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability stems from missing authorization checks in the plugin’s AJAX handlers or REST endpoints. The plugin likely exposes functions for performing search and replace operations on WordPress content (posts, pages, options). Without proper capability checks (e.g., current_user_can('manage_options')), any authenticated user can invoke these functions.

Root Cause: The plugin fails to validate user permissions before executing sensitive operations. This is a classic CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) issue.

Attack Scenario:

1. An attacker with a low-privilege account (e.g., subscriber) logs into WordPress.
2. The attacker sends a crafted HTTP request to the vulnerable endpoint (e.g., /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=cm_ondemand_search_replace).
3. The plugin processes the request without verifying if the user has the required capability (e.g., edit_posts or manage_options).
4. The attacker can then search and replace arbitrary content, potentially modifying database entries or leaking sensitive information.

WordPress Ecosystem Note: This is a plugin-level vulnerability, not a core WordPress issue. Apache/Nginx are not involved in the authorization logic.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, we analyze the likely vulnerable pattern.

Vulnerable Code (hypothetical):

add_action('wp_ajax_cm_ondemand_search_replace', 'cm_ondemand_search_replace_handler');
function cm_ondemand_search_replace_handler() {
    // Missing capability check
    $search = $_POST['search'];
    $replace = $_POST['replace'];
    // Perform search/replace on database
    $wpdb->query("UPDATE wp_posts SET post_content = REPLACE(post_content, '$search', '$replace')");
    wp_die();
}

Patched Code (hypothetical):

add_action('wp_ajax_cm_ondemand_search_replace', 'cm_ondemand_search_replace_handler');
function cm_ondemand_search_replace_handler() {
    // Added capability check
    if (!current_user_can('manage_options')) {
        wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
    }
    $search = sanitize_text_field($_POST['search']);
    $replace = sanitize_text_field($_POST['replace']);
    // Perform search/replace on database
    $wpdb->query($wpdb->prepare("UPDATE wp_posts SET post_content = REPLACE(post_content, %s, %s)", $search, $replace));
    wp_die();
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• WordPress installation with CM On Demand Search And Replace <= 1.5.5.
• Valid low-privilege user account (e.g., subscriber).

Exploitation Steps:

1. Log in as the low-privilege user.
2. Intercept a request to the vulnerable AJAX endpoint using Burp Suite or browser dev tools.
3. Send a POST request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with the following parameters:
   • action=cm_ondemand_search_replace
   • search=sensitive_data
   • replace=exposed_data
4. Observe the response confirming the operation.

Example cURL command:

curl -X POST http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php \
  -d "action=cm_ondemand_search_replace&search=password&replace=REDACTED" \
  --cookie "wordpress_logged_in_xxx=..."

Blue Team

Detection Steps:

1. Monitor for unusual AJAX requests to admin-ajax.php with action cm_ondemand_search_replace from low-privilege users.
2. Review WordPress user roles and ensure only administrators have access to search/replace functionality.
3. Check for unexpected changes in post content or database entries.

Honeypot Setup:

• Deploy a decoy WordPress instance with the vulnerable plugin and monitor for exploitation attempts.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=cm_ondemand_search_replace.
  • Unusual search/replace patterns in request bodies (e.g., search=admin_email).
• File IOCs:
  • Modified wp_posts or wp_options table entries.
  • Plugin file /wp-content/plugins/cm-on-demand-search-and-replace/ present.
• Log IOCs:
  • WordPress debug log entries showing unauthorized AJAX calls.
  • Web server access logs with 200 responses to admin-ajax.php from low-privilege users.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_54045_WordPress_Plugin {
    meta:
        description = "Detects CM On Demand Search And Replace plugin files with missing authorization"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-54045"
    strings:
        $vuln_func = "cm_ondemand_search_replace_handler"
        $ajax_hook = "wp_ajax_cm_ondemand_search_replace"
        $missing_cap = "current_user_can" nocase
    condition:
        $ajax_hook and $vuln_func and not $missing_cap
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-54045 - Missing Authorization in CM On Demand Search And Replace
id: 8a3f7b2c-1d4e-5f6a-7b8c-9d0e1f2a3b4c
status: experimental
description: Detects exploitation attempts of missing authorization vulnerability in WordPress plugin
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        c-uri: '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'action=cm_ondemand_search_replace'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin usage (rare)
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-54045 - CM On Demand Search And Replace Exploit"; flow:to_server,established; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"; http_uri; content:"action=cm_ondemand_search_replace"; http_client_body; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin until a patch is released.
2. Restrict access to the plugin’s functionality via .htaccess or web application firewall (WAF) rules.
3. Audit user roles and remove any unnecessary low-privilege accounts.

Long-term Fix:

• Monitor the vendor’s website for a patched version (>= 1.5.6).
• Implement a WordPress security plugin (e.g., Wordfence) to add virtual patching.

WAF Rule Example (ModSecurity):

SecRule REQUEST_URI "/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" "chain,id:1000002,deny,msg:'CVE-2025-54045 Exploit Attempt'"
SecRule ARGS:action "cm_ondemand_search_replace" "t:lowercase"

Valters IT Signature:

This report was generated by Valters IT DevSecOps Intelligence.