CVE-2025-57937

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-57937 is a medium-severity information disclosure vulnerability affecting the WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher WordPress plugin (versions <= 2.8.10) by vendor Etruel. The flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker to retrieve embedded sensitive system information from the plugin’s internal data structures, potentially exposing database credentials, API keys, or other configuration secrets stored within the plugin’s settings or cached feed data. As a WordPress ecosystem vulnerability, it does not involve Apache or Nginx directly but exploits the plugin’s insecure handling of sensitive data.

The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.3 (Medium) and an EPSS score of 0.0%, indicating low exploitation likelihood in the wild. No public proof-of-concept (PoC) code or exploit is available, and the vendor has not released a patch as of this report. The attack vector is network-based, requires no authentication, and has low complexity, making it a potential target for automated scanning.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress Plugin Directory. Users who installed the plugin via the WordPress admin panel or directly from the repository are at risk. No known malicious packages or typosquatting variants have been reported, but the lack of a patch increases supply chain risk for sites relying on this plugin.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

Threat Level: Medium. The vulnerability is easy to exploit remotely without authentication, but the impact is limited to information disclosure. The lack of a patch and low EPSS score suggest limited active exploitation, but the risk increases for sites storing sensitive data in plugin settings.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The WPeMatico plugin fetches RSS feeds and stores feed data, including metadata and configuration options, in the WordPress database. The vulnerability arises from the plugin’s failure to properly sanitize or restrict access to internal data structures when processing feed items or AJAX requests. Specifically, the plugin exposes sensitive system information (e.g., database credentials, API keys, or server paths) through an unauthorized control sphere—likely an unauthenticated REST API endpoint or a misconfigured AJAX action that returns plugin settings or cached feed data without proper capability checks.

The attack vector is network-based, requiring no authentication. An attacker can send a crafted HTTP request to a vulnerable endpoint (e.g., /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=wpematico_get_feed_data or similar) to retrieve embedded sensitive data. The plugin does not validate user permissions before returning this data, leading to information disclosure.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, the vulnerable code is presumed to be in the plugin’s AJAX handler or REST API endpoint. Below is a hypothetical example of the vulnerable pattern:

Vulnerable Code (wpematico.php):

add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_wpematico_get_feed_data', 'wpematico_get_feed_data');
function wpematico_get_feed_data() {
    $feed_id = $_GET['feed_id'];
    $feed_data = get_post_meta($feed_id, 'wpematico_feed_data', true);
    // No permission check - returns sensitive data to any user
    wp_send_json($feed_data);
}

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

add_action('wp_ajax_wpematico_get_feed_data', 'wpematico_get_feed_data');
// Remove nopriv action to require authentication
function wpematico_get_feed_data() {
    if (!current_user_can('manage_options')) {
        wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
    }
    $feed_id = intval($_GET['feed_id']);
    $feed_data = get_post_meta($feed_id, 'wpematico_feed_data', true);
    // Sanitize output to remove sensitive fields
    unset($feed_data['db_password']);
    unset($feed_data['api_key']);
    wp_send_json($feed_data);
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Attacker)

Prerequisites:

• Target WordPress site with WPeMatico plugin <= 2.8.10 installed and active.
• No authentication required.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint (e.g., via directory brute-forcing or plugin source analysis).
2. Send a crafted HTTP request to retrieve sensitive data:

   curl -X GET "http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=wpematico_get_feed_data&feed_id=1"
   

3. Parse the JSON response for embedded credentials, API keys, or server paths.

Expected Output:

{
  "feed_url": "http://example.com/rss",
  "db_password": "supersecret",
  "api_key": "12345-abcde",
  "server_path": "/var/www/html/wp-content/uploads/"
}

Blue Team (Defender)

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual AJAX requests to admin-ajax.php with action parameters related to WPeMatico (e.g., wpematico_get_feed_data, wpematico_export_settings).
• Look for requests from unauthenticated users to these endpoints.
• Alert on responses containing sensitive keywords like db_password, api_key, or server_path.

Hunting:

• Search web server logs for patterns:

  grep "wpematico" /var/log/apache2/access.log | grep -v "HTTP/1.1\" 200"
  

• Use WAF rules to block unauthenticated access to plugin-specific AJAX actions.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • HTTP requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action parameter containing wpematico.
  • Responses containing JSON with keys like db_password, api_key, server_path.
• File IOCs:
  • Plugin file: /wp-content/plugins/wpematico/wpematico.php (version <= 2.8.10).
• Log IOCs:
  • Web server logs showing 200 responses to unauthenticated AJAX requests with wpematico action.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_57937_WPeMatico_InfoDisclosure {
    meta:
        description = "Detects WPeMatico plugin files vulnerable to CVE-2025-57937"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-57937"
    strings:
        $vuln_func = "wp_ajax_nopriv_wpematico_" nocase
        $sensitive_key = "db_password" nocase
        $sensitive_key2 = "api_key" nocase
    condition:
        $vuln_func and ($sensitive_key or $sensitive_key2)
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-57937 - WPeMatico Sensitive Information Disclosure
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects unauthenticated AJAX requests to WPeMatico endpoints that may disclose sensitive data
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'GET'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'action=wpematico_'
        sc-status: 200
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin requests (if authenticated)
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-57937 WPeMatico Sensitive Info Disclosure"; flow:to_server; content:"GET"; http_method; content:"/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"; http_uri; content:"action=wpematico_"; http_uri; nocase; classtype:attempted-recon; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin if not critical for operations, until a patch is released.
2. Restrict access to AJAX endpoints via WAF rules or .htaccess:

   <Files "admin-ajax.php">
       Require all denied
       Require ip 127.0.0.1
   </Files>
   

3. Monitor logs for exploitation attempts using the Sigma rule above.

Long-Term Fix:

• Contact the vendor (Etruel) for a patch or consider migrating to an alternative RSS feed plugin.
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with virtual patching for this CVE.
• Regularly audit WordPress plugins for known vulnerabilities.

Workaround:

• Add a custom capability check to the vulnerable AJAX action via a mu-plugin:

  add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_wpematico_get_feed_data', function() {
      wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
  }, 1);
  

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers