CVE-2025-58249

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-58249 is a medium-severity information disclosure vulnerability affecting the WordPress plugin Qubely by Themeum, up to and including version 1.8.14. The vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to retrieve embedded sensitive data by exploiting the insertion of sensitive information into sent data. This is a client-side or server-side leak that exposes internal configuration details, API keys, or other secrets embedded within the plugin’s output.

As a WordPress ecosystem issue, this vulnerability does not affect the underlying web server (Apache/Nginx) but rather the plugin’s codebase. The CVSS score of 4.3 (Medium) reflects the low complexity and network-based attack vector, but the impact is limited to confidentiality. No public exploit code or proof-of-concept is currently available, and the patch status remains unknown.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository and potentially third-party marketplaces. Users who installed Qubely from the WordPress dashboard or via ZIP upload are at risk. The plugin is not an NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby package, but it is part of the WordPress supply chain. Administrators should verify the integrity of their plugin files and monitor for updates from Themeum.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
• Base Score: 4.3 (Medium)
• Attack Vector: Network (AV:N) – exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – no special conditions required.
• Privileges Required: None (PR:N) – unauthenticated.
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – no victim action needed.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – impact confined to the vulnerable component.
• Confidentiality Impact: Low (C:L) – limited sensitive data exposure.
• Integrity Impact: None (I:N) – no data modification.
• Availability Impact: None (A:N) – no service disruption.

Threat Level: Medium. The low EPSS score (0.0%) suggests active exploitation is unlikely at this time, but the lack of a patch increases risk for exposed sites.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability stems from the Qubely plugin’s failure to sanitize or restrict sensitive data before including it in HTTP responses. Specifically, the plugin may embed configuration values, API tokens, or database credentials into JavaScript variables, HTML comments, or AJAX responses that are sent to the client. An attacker can trigger this by sending crafted requests to endpoints that output these details, such as REST API routes or admin-ajax handlers.

The root cause is a missing wp_die() or proper permission check in functions that output sensitive data, combined with the use of json_encode() or print_r() on internal objects without filtering. This allows unauthenticated users to retrieve data intended only for authenticated administrators.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, the vulnerable code is presumed to be in the plugin’s core files. A typical vulnerable pattern might look like:

Vulnerable Code (qubely/includes/class-qubely-api.php):

function get_plugin_config() {
    $config = get_option('qubely_settings');
    wp_send_json($config); // Sends all settings, including secrets
}
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_qubely_get_config', 'get_plugin_config');

Patched Code (hypothetical):

function get_plugin_config() {
    if (!current_user_can('manage_options')) {
        wp_die('Unauthorized');
    }
    $config = get_option('qubely_settings');
    // Remove sensitive fields before output
    unset($config['api_key']);
    unset($config['secret']);
    wp_send_json($config);
}
add_action('wp_ajax_qubely_get_config', 'get_plugin_config');

The patch would add capability checks and filter out sensitive fields.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• Target WordPress site with Qubely <= 1.8.14 installed and active.
• No authentication required.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint (e.g., /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=qubely_get_config).
2. Send a GET or POST request to the endpoint.
3. Parse the JSON response for sensitive data (e.g., API keys, database credentials).

Example cURL Command:

curl -X POST "http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" \
  -d "action=qubely_get_config"

Expected Output:

{
  "api_key": "sk_live_xxxxxxxxxxxx",
  "secret": "my_secret_value",
  "db_password": "password123"
}

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual requests to admin-ajax.php with action parameters like qubely_get_config or qubely_*.
• Look for repeated unauthenticated POST requests to AJAX endpoints.
• Check web server logs for 200 responses to admin-ajax.php from non-logged-in users.

Hunting:

• Search for qubely in HTTP response bodies for exposed configuration data.
• Use WAF rules to block requests to admin-ajax.php with suspicious action names.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • HTTP requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=qubely_get_config or similar.
  • Response bodies containing "api_key", "secret", or "db_password" from unauthenticated requests.
• File IOCs:
  • Presence of Qubely plugin version <= 1.8.14 in /wp-content/plugins/qubely/.
  • Modified or suspicious files in the plugin directory.
• Log IOCs:
  • Web server logs showing POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with HTTP/1.1 200 OK from IPs not associated with admin sessions.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_58249_Qubely_Info_Leak {
    meta:
        description = "Detects Qubely plugin files with potential info leak"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-58249"
    strings:
        $s1 = "wp_send_json" nocase
        $s2 = "get_option" nocase
        $s3 = "qubely_settings" nocase
        $s4 = "wp_ajax_nopriv" nocase
    condition:
        all of ($s1, $s2, $s3) or ($s1 and $s4)
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-58249 Qubely Information Disclosure
id: 8a4b3c2d-1e5f-4a7b-9c8d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects unauthenticated access to Qubely AJAX endpoints that leak sensitive data
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'admin-ajax.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'qubely'
        sc-status: 200
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin AJAX calls (rare)
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (
    msg:"CVE-2025-58249 Qubely Information Disclosure Attempt";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"POST";
    http_method;
    content:"admin-ajax.php";
    http_uri;
    content:"qubely";
    http_uri;
    content:"200";
    http_server_body;
    pcre:"/(api_key|secret|db_password)/i";
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
    reference:cve,2025-58249;
    classtype:attempted-recon;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the Qubely plugin until a patch is released by Themeum.
2. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests to admin-ajax.php with action parameters containing qubely from unauthenticated users.
3. Review server logs for any signs of exploitation and rotate any exposed credentials (API keys, database passwords).

Long-Term Fix:

• Monitor the WordPress plugin repository for an official update from Themeum.
• Apply the patch as soon as it becomes available.
• Consider replacing Qubely with an alternative block plugin if no patch is released.

Workaround:

• Add the following code to the theme’s functions.php to block unauthenticated access to Qubely AJAX endpoints:

add_action('init', function() {
    if (defined('DOING_AJAX') && DOING_AJAX && !is_user_logged_in()) {
        $action = $_REQUEST['action'] ?? '';
        if (strpos($action, 'qubely') !== false) {
            wp_die('Unauthorized');
        }
    }
});

Valters IT
DevSecOps & Cyber Threat Intelligence