CVE-2019-25145
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary HTML into emails sent by the PirateForms WordPress plugin. This enables phishing attacks where malicious content appears to come from legitimate website forms. WordPress sites using PirateForms plugin versions 2.5.1 and earlier are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- WordPress PirateForms Plugin
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could send convincing phishing emails appearing to originate from the legitimate website, potentially stealing credentials, financial information, or delivering malware to users.
Likely Case
Phishing campaigns targeting website visitors or administrators, potentially leading to credential theft or malware infections.
If Mitigated
With proper email filtering and user awareness training, phishing attempts would be detected and reported rather than successful.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires submitting specially crafted input through contact forms. Public proof-of-concept demonstrates HTML injection.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 2.5.2
Vendor Advisory: https://wordpress.org/plugins/pirate-forms/#developers
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find PirateForms and click 'Update Now'. 4. Verify version is 2.5.2 or later.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable PirateForms Plugin
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable plugin until patching is possible
wp plugin deactivate pirate-forms
Input Validation Filter
allAdd custom input sanitization for form submissions
Add filter: add_filter('pirateforms_process_field', 'sanitize_text_field');
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement email filtering to detect and block HTML injection in outgoing emails
- Monitor contact form submissions for suspicious HTML patterns and block malicious IPs
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin > Plugins > PirateForms version. If version is 2.5.1 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get pirate-forms --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify PirateForms plugin version is 2.5.2 or later in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual HTML patterns in contact form submissions
- Multiple form submissions from same IP with HTML tags
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with HTML payloads in form fields
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND (url="/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" OR url="*pirateforms*") AND (form_data CONTAINS "<script>" OR form_data CONTAINS "<iframe>" OR form_data CONTAINS "javascript:")🔗 References
- https://blog.nintechnet.com/html-injection-vulnerability-in-wordpress-pirate-forms-plugin/
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/9e34c3f6-cc84-4e45-9948-6f7fd5cba8cd?source=cve
- https://blog.nintechnet.com/html-injection-vulnerability-in-wordpress-pirate-forms-plugin/
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/9e34c3f6-cc84-4e45-9948-6f7fd5cba8cd?source=cve
