CVE-2025-69298

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-69298 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the GhostPool Gauge WordPress plugin, affecting all versions up to and including 6.56.4. This flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels, potentially leading to unauthorized data access or privilege escalation. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High) and an EPSS score of 0.0%, indicating low exploitation likelihood at this time. No public proof-of-concept (PoC) or patch is currently available.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository and third-party marketplaces. Users are advised to monitor for updates from GhostPool and verify the integrity of plugin files using checksums provided by the repository. No known malicious packages have been reported in the supply chain.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
• Base Score: 7.5 (High)
• Attack Vector: Network
• Attack Complexity: Low
• Privileges Required: None
• User Interaction: None
• Scope: Unchanged
• Confidentiality Impact: High
• Integrity Impact: None
• Availability Impact: None

The threat level is High due to the low attack complexity and no required privileges, allowing remote exploitation without user interaction.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the GhostPool Gauge plugin's access control mechanisms. The plugin fails to properly validate user permissions when processing certain AJAX actions or REST API endpoints. Specifically, the gauge_ajax_handler function does not enforce capability checks before executing sensitive operations, such as retrieving or modifying plugin settings, user data, or stored metrics.

An attacker can craft a malicious HTTP request to a vulnerable endpoint (e.g., /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=gauge_*) without authentication. The plugin's code uses current_user_can() inconsistently or not at all, allowing unauthenticated access to functions that should require administrative privileges.

The root cause is a Missing Authorization (CWE-862) in the plugin's core logic, where access control checks are either omitted or incorrectly configured.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, the following illustrates the vulnerable pattern and a hypothetical fix.

Vulnerable Code (gauge.php):

add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_gauge_get_data', 'gauge_get_data');
function gauge_get_data() {
    // No capability check
    $data = get_option('gauge_metrics');
    wp_send_json_success($data);
}

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_gauge_get_data', 'gauge_get_data');
function gauge_get_data() {
    if (!current_user_can('manage_options')) {
        wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
    }
    $data = get_option('gauge_metrics');
    wp_send_json_success($data);
}

The fix adds a current_user_can('manage_options') check before processing the request, ensuring only administrators can access the data.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• Target WordPress site with Gauge plugin <= 6.56.4
• Network access to the site

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify vulnerable endpoints by scanning for AJAX actions prefixed with gauge_.
2. Send a crafted request to retrieve sensitive data:

   curl -X POST http://target/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php \
        -d "action=gauge_get_data"
   

3. If successful, the response will contain plugin configuration or user data.

Note: No public exploit code is available; this is a theoretical approach.

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual AJAX requests to admin-ajax.php with action=gauge_* parameters from unauthenticated users.
• Look for HTTP 200 responses to such requests without prior authentication.

Hunting:

• Search logs for patterns like POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=gauge_ and no Cookie header.
• Use the Sigma rule below to detect exploitation attempts.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network:
  • HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=gauge_* parameters
  • Responses containing plugin configuration data (e.g., gauge_metrics)
• File:
  • Modified or unexpected files in /wp-content/plugins/gauge/
• Log:
  • Access logs showing unauthenticated AJAX requests to gauge actions

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_69298_Gauge_Missing_Auth {
    meta:
        description = "Detects exploitation attempts of CVE-2025-69298 in GhostPool Gauge plugin"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-01-01"
        reference = "CVE-2025-69298"
    strings:
        $ajax_action = "action=gauge_" nocase
        $admin_ajax = "admin-ajax.php" nocase
    condition:
        $ajax_action and $admin_ajax
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-69298 GhostPool Gauge Missing Authorization
id: 12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc
status: experimental
description: Detects unauthenticated AJAX requests to Gauge plugin actions
author: Valters IT
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'admin-ajax.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'action=gauge_'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin actions (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2025-69298 GhostPool Gauge Missing Authorization Attempt";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"POST"; http_method;
    content:"admin-ajax.php"; http_uri;
    content:"action=gauge_"; http_client_body;
    classtype:attempted-admin;
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin until a patch is released by GhostPool.
2. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests containing action=gauge_ in POST bodies to admin-ajax.php.
3. Restrict access to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php using IP whitelisting or .htaccess rules.

Long-term Fix:

• Apply the vendor patch once available.
• Conduct a code review of all AJAX handlers to ensure proper capability checks.
• Update the plugin to the latest version.

Workaround:

• Add the following to .htaccess to block unauthenticated AJAX requests to gauge actions:

  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/wp-admin/admin-ajax\.php$
  RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} action=gauge_ [OR]
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_BODY} action=gauge_
  RewriteRule ^ - [F,L]
  

Valters IT