Overview
The popular WordPress plugin, Uncanny Automator has been discovered to contain a serious PHP Object Injection vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-3623. This vulnerability affects all versions of the plugin up to and including 6.4.0.1. The plugin is widely used by WordPress website owners for automating their website’s tasks, making this vulnerability a significant concern for countless websites globally. If left unpatched, this weakness can potentially be exploited by attackers to compromise systems or leak sensitive data, thus underscoring the urgency of addressing this issue.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-3623
Severity: High (8.1 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low (Subscriber-level Access)
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Uncanny Automator WordPress Plugin | Up to and including 6.4.0.1
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability resides in the automator_api_decode_message() function of the Uncanny Automator plugin, which fails to properly sanitize untrusted input during the deserialization process. This allows authenticated attackers, having at least Subscriber-level access, to inject a malicious PHP Object. Further, the presence of a POP (Property-Oriented Programming) chain enables the attackers to perform destructive actions, such as deleting arbitrary files.
Conceptual Example Code
A conceptual exploitation might involve sending a malicious JSON payload to the vulnerable endpoint. Here’s a simplified example:
POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=automator_api_decode_message HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{ "message": "O:8:\"stdClass\":1:{s:4:\"file\";s:12:\"/etc/passwd\";}" }In this pseudo-code example, the serialized PHP Object in the “message” parameter is crafted to delete a file (`/etc/passwd` in this case). This is a mere conceptual example and the actual attack would be more complex and stealthy.
Mitigation Guidance
To mitigate this vulnerability, users are strongly advised to apply the latest patch provided by the vendor. If the patch cannot be applied immediately, it is recommended to use Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) as temporary mitigation. As always, monitoring for unusual activity and maintaining an updated security system will go a long way in protecting against such threats.