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
Escape the Surveillance Era
Most apps won’t tell you the truth.
They’re part of the problem.
Phone numbers. Emails. Profiles. Logs.
It’s all fuel for surveillance.
Ameeba Chat gives you a way out.
- • No phone number
- • No email
- • No personal info
- • Anonymous aliases
- • End-to-end encrypted
Chat without a trace.
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.