CVE-2025-49895
📋 TL;DR
A Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in iThemes ServerBuddy WordPress plugin allows attackers to perform PHP object injection attacks. This affects all WordPress sites running ServerBuddy versions up to 1.0.5. Attackers can trick authenticated administrators into executing malicious actions.
💻 Affected Systems
- iThemes ServerBuddy by PluginBuddy.Com
⚠️ 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
Complete site compromise through remote code execution, data theft, or site defacement via object injection leading to arbitrary code execution.
Likely Case
Unauthorized plugin configuration changes, data manipulation, or privilege escalation through successful CSRF attacks.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper CSRF protections and input validation in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires tricking an authenticated administrator into clicking a malicious link. Object injection adds complexity but follows known patterns.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.0.6 or later
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'ServerBuddy by PluginBuddy.Com'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. If no update appears, manually download version 1.0.6+ from WordPress.org and replace plugin files.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable ServerBuddy Plugin
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable plugin until patched.
wp plugin deactivate serverbuddy-by-pluginbuddy
Implement CSRF Protection Headers
linuxAdd security headers to WordPress to help prevent CSRF attacks.
Add to .htaccess: Header set X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN"
Add to .htaccess: Header set Content-Security-Policy "frame-ancestors 'self'"
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict plugin access to trusted administrators only
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block CSRF and object injection patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins for ServerBuddy version. If version is 1.0.5 or earlier, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get serverbuddy-by-pluginbuddy --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify ServerBuddy plugin version is 1.0.6 or later in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to ServerBuddy admin endpoints
- CSRF token validation failures in WordPress logs
- Unexpected object serialization/deserialization in PHP logs
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests with malicious serialized objects in parameters
- Cross-origin requests to ServerBuddy admin endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("ServerBuddy" OR "serverbuddy") AND ("POST" OR "csrf" OR "serialize" OR "unserialize")