CVE-2025-62153

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-62153 identifies a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Quick Interest Slider WordPress plugin (versions ≤ 3.1.7). This flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels, potentially leading to unauthorized data exposure or manipulation of slider settings. The vulnerability is classified as WordPress ecosystem issue and does not involve Apache or Nginx misconfigurations. With a CVSS score of 5.3 (Medium), the risk is elevated due to the lack of required authentication and the plugin's widespread use. No public exploit code or patch is currently available, making proactive detection and mitigation critical.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository. Organizations using this plugin should verify its integrity by checking checksums and monitoring for suspicious updates. Since no patch exists, consider removing or disabling the plugin until a fix is released.

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: 5.3 (Medium)
• Attack Vector: Network (AV:N) – Exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – No special conditions required.
• Privileges Required: None (PR:N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – No user action required.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – Impact confined to the vulnerable component.
• Confidentiality Impact: Low (C:L) – Limited data exposure.
• Integrity Impact: None (I:N) – No data modification.
• Availability Impact: None (A:N) – No denial of service.

Threat Level: Medium. The low complexity and no authentication requirement make this an attractive target for automated scanning and exploitation, especially in WordPress environments with the plugin active.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability stems from Missing Authorization (CWE-862) in the quick-interest-slider plugin. The plugin fails to properly enforce access control checks on certain AJAX actions or REST endpoints, allowing unauthenticated users to trigger administrative functions. Specifically, the plugin likely exposes functions that modify slider data, settings, or user preferences without verifying the user's capabilities (e.g., wp_verify_nonce or current_user_can checks).

Attack Flow:

1. An attacker identifies a WordPress site running the vulnerable plugin.
2. The attacker sends a crafted HTTP request to an unprotected endpoint (e.g., /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=quick_interest_slider_update).
3. The plugin processes the request without verifying the user's role or nonce, leading to unauthorized actions such as:
   • Modifying slider content or configuration.
   • Exfiltrating slider data (e.g., interest rates, user preferences).
   • Potentially escalating privileges if combined with other flaws.

Root Cause: The plugin's developer omitted authorization checks in functions handling user input, assuming only authenticated users would access them. This is a common oversight in WordPress plugin development.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, the vulnerable code pattern is inferred from similar CWE-862 issues. Below is a hypothetical example of the vulnerable and patched code.

Vulnerable Code (PHP):

add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_quick_interest_slider_update', 'handle_slider_update');
function handle_slider_update() {
    // Missing authorization check
    $slider_id = $_POST['slider_id'];
    update_option('quick_interest_slider_' . $slider_id, $_POST['data']);
    wp_die();
}

Patched Code (PHP):

add_action('wp_ajax_quick_interest_slider_update', 'handle_slider_update');
function handle_slider_update() {
    // Added authorization check
    if (!current_user_can('manage_options')) {
        wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
    }
    check_ajax_referer('quick_interest_slider_nonce', 'nonce');
    $slider_id = sanitize_text_field($_POST['slider_id']);
    update_option('quick_interest_slider_' . $slider_id, $_POST['data']);
    wp_die();
}

Key Differences:

• The patched version restricts the action to authenticated users with manage_options capability.
• A nonce check is added to prevent CSRF attacks.
• Input sanitization is applied to $slider_id.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Exploitation)

Prerequisites:

• A WordPress instance with Quick Interest Slider ≤ 3.1.7 installed and activated.
• Network access to the WordPress admin AJAX endpoint.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint by scanning for common AJAX actions (e.g., quick_interest_slider_update, quick_interest_slider_get).
2. Craft a POST request to http://target/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with the action parameter.
3. Example using cURL:

   curl -X POST http://target/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php \
     -d "action=quick_interest_slider_update&slider_id=1&data=malicious_content"
   

4. Verify the unauthorized change by checking the slider output on the frontend.

Note: No public exploit code is available; this is a conceptual demonstration.

Blue Team (Detection & Defense)

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with unknown or suspicious action parameters.
• Look for requests lacking a valid nonce or user authentication cookie.
• Alert on repeated attempts to access admin-ajax.php from unauthenticated IPs.

Defense:

• Immediately disable or remove the plugin if no patch is available.
• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to block requests to unknown AJAX actions.
• Use WordPress security plugins (e.g., Wordfence) to enforce role-based access.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=quick_interest_slider_* parameters.
  • Unusual slider_id values in POST data (e.g., non-numeric or out-of-range).
• File IOCs:
  • Modified options in the wp_options table with keys like quick_interest_slider_*.
  • Unexpected changes to slider content in the WordPress dashboard.
• Log IOCs:
  • HTTP 200 responses to unauthenticated AJAX requests targeting the plugin.
  • Repeated 403 errors from legitimate users if the plugin is partially patched.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_62153_Quick_Interest_Slider {
    meta:
        description = "Detects exploitation attempts for CVE-2025-62153 in Quick Interest Slider plugin"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-62153"
    strings:
        $ajax_action = "quick_interest_slider" nocase
        $post_data = "slider_id" nocase
        $wp_admin = "/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" nocase
    condition:
        all of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-62153 Quick Interest Slider Unauthorized Access
id: 8a9b3c4d-5e6f-7a8b-9c0d-1e2f3a4b5c6d
status: experimental
description: Detects unauthenticated POST requests to Quick Interest Slider AJAX endpoints
author: Valters IT
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: accesslog
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-stem: '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'action=quick_interest_slider'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin actions (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-62153 Quick Interest Slider Unauthorized AJAX Access"; flow:to_server,established; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"; http_uri; content:"action=quick_interest_slider"; http_client_body; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin – Deactivate and delete Quick Interest Slider until a patch is released.
2. Review logs – Check for signs of exploitation using the IOCs and detection rules above.
3. Update WordPress – Ensure the core and all other plugins are up to date.

Long-term Mitigation:

• Monitor the plugin's official page for a security update.
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with custom rules to block unauthenticated AJAX requests.
• Conduct a security audit of all WordPress plugins to identify similar authorization flaws.

Patch Details: No official patch is available. The vendor (Graham) has not released a fix. Users should consider replacing the plugin with an alternative.

Valters IT