CVE-2025-62973

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-62973 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the BuddyForms WordPress plugin by Themekraft, affecting versions up to and including 2.9.0. This flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to access functionality that should be constrained by Access Control Lists (ACLs), leading to unauthorized information disclosure. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 5.3 (Medium) and currently has no known public exploit or patch. As a WordPress plugin issue, the attack surface is limited to sites running the vulnerable plugin, but the lack of a patch makes it a persistent risk for unmaintained installations.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository and third-party marketplaces. Since no patch is available, users must rely on manual mitigation or plugin removal. The supply chain risk is elevated because the vendor (Themekraft) has not responded to disclosure, leaving the plugin in an unpatched state for all existing installations.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 5.3 (Medium)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
• Attack Vector: Network
• Attack Complexity: Low
• Privileges Required: None
• User Interaction: None
• Scope: Unchanged
• Confidentiality Impact: Low
• Integrity Impact: None
• Availability Impact: None

The threat level is Medium due to the low complexity and no required privileges, but the impact is limited to low confidentiality loss. The vulnerability allows unauthorized access to plugin functionality, potentially exposing sensitive form data or configuration details.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The BuddyForms plugin provides form-building capabilities for WordPress. The vulnerability lies in improper authorization checks for AJAX actions or REST endpoints that handle form submissions, data retrieval, or configuration. Specifically, the plugin fails to verify user capabilities (e.g., edit_posts, manage_options) before executing privileged functions. This allows unauthenticated attackers to:

• Access form entries and submissions.
• Retrieve plugin settings or nonce values.
• Trigger actions intended for administrators.

The root cause is a missing current_user_can() check in functions hooked to WordPress AJAX or REST API endpoints. For example, a function like buddyforms_ajax_get_entries() may be registered with wp_ajax_nopriv_* (allowing unauthenticated access) or without proper capability verification.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (buddyforms/includes/admin/form-builder.php):

add_action('wp_ajax_buddyforms_get_form_data', 'buddyforms_get_form_data_callback');
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_buddyforms_get_form_data', 'buddyforms_get_form_data_callback');

function buddyforms_get_form_data_callback() {
    $form_id = $_POST['form_id'];
    // Missing capability check
    $form_data = get_post_meta($form_id, '_buddyforms_data', true);
    wp_send_json_success($form_data);
}

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

add_action('wp_ajax_buddyforms_get_form_data', 'buddyforms_get_form_data_callback');
// Remove nopriv hook to require authentication

function buddyforms_get_form_data_callback() {
    // Add capability check
    if (!current_user_can('edit_posts')) {
        wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
    }
    $form_id = $_POST['form_id'];
    $form_data = get_post_meta($form_id, '_buddyforms_data', true);
    wp_send_json_success($form_data);
}

The patched version removes the wp_ajax_nopriv_* hook and adds a current_user_can() check to restrict access to authenticated users with appropriate roles.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Exploitation)

1. Setup: Install WordPress with BuddyForms <= 2.9.0 on a local or cloud instance.
2. Recon: Identify AJAX endpoints by scanning for admin-ajax.php actions. Use Burp Suite or browser dev tools to intercept plugin requests.
3. Exploit: Send a crafted POST request to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with the action parameter set to a vulnerable endpoint (e.g., buddyforms_get_form_data). Include a valid form_id to retrieve form data.

Example Exploit Request:

curl -X POST http://target/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php \
  -d "action=buddyforms_get_form_data&form_id=1"

Expected Response: JSON containing form metadata, entries, or configuration.

Blue Team (Detection & Defense)

• Monitor AJAX Requests: Log all admin-ajax.php requests and alert on unknown or unexpected action parameters.
• Capability Auditing: Review plugin code for missing current_user_can() checks in AJAX handlers.
• WAF Rules: Block requests to admin-ajax.php with suspicious action names (e.g., buddyforms_*) from unauthenticated users.
• Plugin Removal: If the plugin is not critical, deactivate and delete it until a patch is available.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network: HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=buddyforms_* parameters from unauthenticated sources.
• File: Presence of BuddyForms plugin files in /wp-content/plugins/buddyforms/ with version <= 2.9.0.
• Log: WordPress debug log entries showing wp_ajax_nopriv_buddyforms_* actions being triggered.
• Database: Unauthorized access to wp_postmeta entries with _buddyforms_data keys.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule Detect_BuddyForms_Missing_Auth {
    meta:
        description = "Detects BuddyForms plugin files with missing authorization checks"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        cve = "CVE-2025-62973"
    strings:
        $nopriv = "wp_ajax_nopriv_buddyforms_" ascii wide nocase
        $missing_check = "current_user_can" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        $nopriv and not $missing_check
}

Sigma Rule

title: BuddyForms Missing Authorization Exploitation
id: 7a8b9c0d-1e2f-3a4b-5c6d-7e8f9a0b1c2d
status: experimental
description: Detects unauthenticated AJAX requests to BuddyForms endpoints
author: Valters IT
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'admin-ajax.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'action=buddyforms_'
        sc-status: 200
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin actions (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> $HOME_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2025-62973 BuddyForms Missing Authorization Exploit";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"POST"; http_method;
    content:"admin-ajax.php"; http_uri;
    content:"action=buddyforms_"; http_client_body;
    classtype:attempted-recon;
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

1. Immediate: Deactivate and delete the BuddyForms plugin if not essential.
2. Short-term: Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block unauthenticated requests to admin-ajax.php with action=buddyforms_* parameters.
3. Long-term: Monitor the vendor's repository for a patched version. If none appears, consider forking the plugin and applying the fix manually (adding current_user_can() checks to all AJAX handlers).
4. Alternative: Migrate to a maintained form plugin (e.g., Gravity Forms, Contact Form 7) with proper security practices.

Valters IT
DevSecOps & Cyber Threat Intelligence