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CVE-2025-52709: High Risk Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability in Everest Forms

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Overview

In this post, we will take a deep dive into the details of CVE-2025-52709, a high-risk cybersecurity threat that affects the Everest Forms plugin on the WordPress platform. This vulnerability exposes systems to a deserialization of untrusted data attack, which can potentially lead to system compromise or data leakage. The severity of this issue is underscored by its Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) severity score of 9.8, which is considered critical.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-52709
Severity: Critical (9.8 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

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Product | Affected Versions

Everest Forms | From unspecified versions to 3.2.2

How the Exploit Works

The vulnerability exists due to the deserialization of untrusted data by the Everest Forms plugin. In software development, serialization is the process of converting an object’s state to a byte stream, and deserialization is the reverse process. When a system deserializes data from untrusted sources without adequate validation, it can open the door for an attacker to inject malicious code, resulting in an Object Injection attack.

Conceptual Example Code

An attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability by sending a manipulated serialized object to the affected application. Here’s a simplified example of how the payload might look:

POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=everest_forms_save_form_entry HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
form_data={ "form_id": "1", "entry_id": "1", "form_data": "O:8:\"stdClass\":1:{s:4:\"code\";s:39:\"system('rm -rf /');\";}" }

In this example, the attacker sends a serialized object containing a malicious `system()` function in the form submission. If successful, this would cause destructive behavior on the victim’s server.

Mitigation Actions

Users of the Everest Forms plugin are strongly recommended to apply the vendor patch as soon as possible to mitigate this vulnerability. In the absence of a patch, it’s recommended to use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) as temporary mitigation. It’s also crucial to regularly update software and plugins and to maintain a robust security posture to protect against such vulnerabilities.

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Disclaimer:

The information and code presented in this article are provided for educational and defensive cybersecurity purposes only. Any conceptual or pseudocode examples are simplified representations intended to raise awareness and promote secure development and system configuration practices.

Do not use this information to attempt unauthorized access or exploit vulnerabilities on systems that you do not own or have explicit permission to test.

Ameeba and its authors do not endorse or condone malicious behavior and are not responsible for misuse of the content. Always follow ethical hacking guidelines, responsible disclosure practices, and local laws.

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