CVE-2025-58644

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-58644 is a critical deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability in the WordPress plugin "LTL Freight Quotes - TQL Edition" by Enituretechnology. This flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker to perform object injection via crafted serialized data, potentially leading to remote code execution (RCE), data exfiltration, or full site compromise. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 1.2.6. As of this report, no official patch is available, and no public proof-of-concept (PoC) or exploit code has been released. The EPSS score is 0.0%, indicating low exploitation likelihood at this time, but the severity (CVSS 7.2) demands immediate attention.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability resides in a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository. Users who installed the plugin from the WordPress dashboard or via direct download are affected. No package manager (NPM, PyPI, Go, Ruby) is involved. The supply chain risk is moderate due to the lack of a patch and the plugin's integration with freight quoting services, which may process sensitive business data.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 7.2 (High)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
• Attack Vector: Network
• Attack Complexity: Low
• Privileges Required: None
• User Interaction: None
• Scope: Unchanged
• Confidentiality Impact: High
• Integrity Impact: High
• Availability Impact: High

Threat Level: High. The vulnerability is remotely exploitable without authentication, and successful exploitation can lead to complete compromise of the WordPress instance.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability stems from the insecure use of PHP's unserialize() function on user-supplied input within the plugin's code. The plugin likely processes serialized data from HTTP requests (e.g., POST parameters, cookies, or API calls) without proper validation or sanitization. When an attacker crafts a malicious serialized object, PHP's deserialization mechanism can instantiate arbitrary classes and trigger magic methods like __wakeup(), __destruct(), or __toString(). This can lead to:

• Object Injection: The attacker can inject arbitrary PHP objects, potentially exploiting gadget chains in the plugin or WordPress core to execute code.
• Remote Code Execution (RCE): By chaining with known gadget chains (e.g., from WordPress or common libraries), the attacker can execute system commands.
• Data Manipulation: The attacker may modify database entries, inject malicious content, or exfiltrate sensitive data.

The vulnerable code likely resembles:

$data = unserialize($_POST['some_field']);

Without proper checks (e.g., is_serialized() validation, allowed classes whitelist, or use of JSON instead), this is a classic deserialization vulnerability.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (<= 1.2.6):

// Example of vulnerable code in the plugin
$input = $_POST['ltl_freight_data'];
$data = unserialize($input);
// Process $data...

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

// Secure alternative using JSON
$input = $_POST['ltl_freight_data'];
$data = json_decode($input, true);
if (json_last_error() !== JSON_ERROR_NONE) {
    // Handle error
}
// Process $data...

Or with allowed classes whitelist:

$input = $_POST['ltl_freight_data'];
$allowed_classes = ['MySafeClass', 'AnotherSafeClass'];
$data = unserialize($input, ['allowed_classes' => $allowed_classes]);

Since no official patch exists, users must implement mitigations manually.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Lab Environment:

• WordPress 6.x with LTL Freight Quotes - TQL Edition <= 1.2.6 installed.
• PHP 7.4+ with allow_url_include = Off (default).
• Attacker machine with Python/Go for crafting payloads.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint (e.g., /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php or a custom REST route).
2. Craft a malicious serialized payload using a known PHP gadget chain (e.g., from WordPress or Guzzle).
3. Send the payload via POST request:

curl -X POST http://target/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php \
  -d "action=ltl_freight_process&data=O:14:\"WP_HTML_Token\":2:{s:5:\"token\";s:4:\"test\";s:6:\"length\";i:1;}"

4. Monitor for code execution (e.g., via out-of-band DNS or file write).

Example Payload (Conceptual):

// PHP serialized object for RCE via gadget chain
O:10:"MyGadget":1:{s:4:"cmd";s:6:"id > /tmp/pwned";}

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual serialized data in HTTP requests (e.g., O:, a:, s: patterns).
• Use WAF rules to block requests containing unserialize or serialized objects.
• Enable PHP disable_classes and disable_functions to limit gadget chains.

Hunting:

• Search logs for unserialize() calls with user input.
• Check for unexpected file writes in /tmp/ or web root.
• Monitor outbound connections from the WordPress server.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network:
  • HTTP requests with serialized PHP objects in POST data (e.g., O:, a:, s:).
  • Outbound connections to attacker-controlled IPs/domains.
• File System:
  • Unexpected files in /tmp/, /var/www/html/wp-content/, or plugin directories.
  • Modified .php files with eval or system calls.
• Process:
  • PHP processes executing shell commands (e.g., id, whoami, curl).
• Logs:
  • PHP error logs showing unserialize() errors or __wakeup() calls.
  • Web server logs with suspicious POST parameters.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_58644_Deserialization {
    meta:
        description = "Detects serialized PHP objects in HTTP requests targeting LTL Freight Quotes plugin"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        cve = "CVE-2025-58644"
    strings:
        $serialized = /O:\d+:"[^"]+":\d+:\{/
        $plugin_ref = /ltl-freight-quotes-tql-edition/i
    condition:
        $serialized and $plugin_ref
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-58644 - Deserialization Attempt on LTL Freight Quotes Plugin
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects HTTP POST requests containing serialized PHP objects targeting the vulnerable plugin
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'ltl-freight-quotes-tql-edition'
        cs-request-body|re: 'O:\d+:"[^"]+":\d+:\{'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate plugin functionality using serialization (unlikely)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-58644 - LTL Freight Quotes Deserialization Attempt"; flow:to_server; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"ltl-freight-quotes-tql-edition"; http_uri; pcre:"/O:\d+:\"[^\"]+\":\d+:\{/"; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin until a patch is released.
2. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block serialized PHP objects in POST data.
3. Apply virtual patching via mod_security or similar:

SecRule REQUEST_BODY "@rx O:\d+:\"[^\"]+\":\d+:\{" \
    "id:1000001,phase:2,deny,status:403,msg:'CVE-2025-58644 Deserialization Attempt'"

Long-term Fix:

• Replace unserialize() with json_decode() in the plugin code.
• Use is_serialized() with strict validation if serialization is required.
• Implement allowed classes whitelist in unserialize() calls.

Monitoring:

• Enable detailed logging for all POST requests to plugin endpoints.
• Set up alerts for serialized data patterns in logs.

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers