CVE-2025-14388
📋 TL;DR
The PhastPress WordPress plugin contains a critical vulnerability allowing unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files from the webroot via null byte injection. Attackers can exploit this by appending a double URL-encoded null byte followed by an allowed extension to bypass file extension validation. All WordPress sites using PhastPress versions up to 3.7 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- PhastPress WordPress Plugin
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers can read sensitive files like wp-config.php containing database credentials, secret keys, and other configuration data, potentially leading to complete site compromise.
Likely Case
Attackers will exfiltrate wp-config.php and other sensitive files to gain database access and escalate privileges.
If Mitigated
With proper file permissions and web server restrictions, impact may be limited to readable files within the webroot.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires simple HTTP requests with crafted parameters.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.8 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3418139
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find PhastPress and click 'Update Now'. 4. Alternatively, download version 3.8+ from WordPress plugin repository and replace the plugin files.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable PhastPress Plugin
allTemporarily deactivate the vulnerable plugin until patched.
wp plugin deactivate phastpress
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block requests containing null byte encodings.
- Restrict file permissions on sensitive files like wp-config.php to prevent web server read access.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → PhastPress version. If version is 3.7 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get phastpress --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify PhastPress version is 3.8 or higher in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- HTTP requests to /wp-content/plugins/phastpress/ with %2500 in URL parameters
- Access to sensitive files like wp-config.php from unexpected IPs
Network Indicators:
- Unusual GET requests containing double-encoded null bytes to PhastPress endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="web_access_logs" AND uri="*%2500*" AND uri="*phastpress*"🔗 References
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/phastpress/tags/3.6/sdk/phast.php#L9570
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/phastpress/tags/3.6/sdk/phast.php#L9597
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/phastpress/tags/3.6/sdk/phast.php#L9608
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/phastpress/tags/3.6/sdk/phast.php#L9641
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3418139
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/eec9bbc0-5a68-4624-a672-bd6227d6fa45?source=cve
