CVE-2025-14047
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in the WP User Frontend WordPress plugin allows unauthenticated attackers to delete attachments without proper authorization. It affects all WordPress sites using this plugin up to version 4.2.4. The issue stems from missing capability checks in the Frontend_Form_Ajax::submit_post function.
💻 Affected Systems
- WP User Frontend WordPress plugin
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could delete critical media files, attachments, or content from the WordPress site, potentially causing data loss, site functionality issues, or content disruption.
Likely Case
Attackers delete random or targeted attachments, causing minor to moderate content loss and requiring restoration from backups.
If Mitigated
With proper access controls and monitoring, impact is limited to attempted attacks that are detected and blocked before causing damage.
🎯 Exploit Status
The vulnerability is straightforward to exploit as it requires no authentication and involves calling a specific AJAX endpoint with malicious parameters.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 4.2.5 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-user-frontend/#developers
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'WP User Frontend' plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if update is available. 5. Alternatively, download version 4.2.5+ from WordPress.org and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable vulnerable plugin
allTemporarily disable the WP User Frontend plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate wp-user-frontend
Restrict AJAX endpoints
linuxUse web application firewall or .htaccess to block access to vulnerable AJAX endpoints
# Add to .htaccess:
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/wp-admin/admin-ajax\.php$
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} action=wpuf_form_submit
RewriteRule ^ - [F]
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict access controls and monitor for unauthorized attachment deletion attempts
- Enable comprehensive logging and set up alerts for suspicious AJAX requests to admin-ajax.php
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Installed Plugins for WP User Frontend version. If version is 4.2.4 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get wp-user-frontend --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify the plugin version shows 4.2.5 or higher in WordPress admin.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with 'action=wpuf_form_submit' parameters
- Unexpected attachment deletion events in WordPress logs
- 404 errors for previously existing media files
Network Indicators:
- Unusual spikes in requests to WordPress AJAX endpoints from unauthenticated sources
- POST requests to admin-ajax.php with attachment deletion parameters
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("admin-ajax.php" AND "wpuf_form_submit") OR ("attachment" AND "deleted" AND source_ip NOT IN authenticated_users)🔗 References
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-frontend/tags/4.2.2/includes/Ajax.php#L25
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-frontend/tags/4.2.2/includes/Ajax.php#L69
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-frontend/tags/4.2.2/includes/Ajax/Frontend_Form_Ajax.php#L133
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-frontend/tags/4.2.2/includes/Ajax/Frontend_Form_Ajax.php#L35
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-frontend/tags/4.2.2/includes/Ajax/Frontend_Form_Ajax.php#L55
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3430352/wp-user-frontend/trunk/includes/Ajax/Frontend_Form_Ajax.php
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/6e95b16f-a25a-45c7-a875-2d34a1e127ce?source=cve
