Overview
In this post, we dive into a significant cybersecurity vulnerability, CVE-2025-5014, that affects the Home Villas | Real Estate WordPress Theme. This vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker with Subscriber-level access to perform arbitrary file deletion, which, under certain circumstances, can lead to remote code execution. Given the popularity of WordPress and the multitude of sites leveraging it, this vulnerability poses a considerable risk and potentially exposes a large number of websites to potential system compromise or data leakage.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-5014
Severity: High (CVSS: 8.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low (Subscriber-level access)
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Home Villas | Real Estate WordPress Theme | Up to and including 2.8
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability lies in the ‘wp_rem_cs_widget_file_delete’ function, which does not adequately validate the file path. This failure can allow an authenticated attacker to delete arbitrary files on the server. If an attacker deletes a critical file like ‘wp-config.php’, it could lead to remote code execution, giving the attacker control over the system.
Conceptual Example Code
This conceptual example demonstrates how an attacker might exploit the vulnerability by sending a malicious request to delete the ‘wp-config.php’ file:
POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
action=wp_rem_cs_widget_file_delete&wp_rem_cs_widget_data=../../../wp-config.phpIn this example, the attacker sends a POST request to ‘admin-ajax.php’, an internal WordPress file that processes AJAX requests. The ‘action’ parameter is set to the vulnerable function ‘wp_rem_cs_widget_file_delete’. The ‘wp_rem_cs_widget_data’ parameter is set to a file path, which in this case is a relative path to the ‘wp-config.php’ file.
Mitigation and Prevention
The most effective mitigation against this vulnerability is to apply the vendor’s patch. Users of the Home Villas | Real Estate WordPress Theme should ensure they have updated to the latest version, which includes a fix for this vulnerability.
In cases where immediate patching is not possible, employing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can provide temporary mitigation. These systems can be configured to detect and block attempts to exploit this vulnerability.
Remember, maintaining up-to-date software versions and regularly scanning for vulnerabilities is a best practice in securing any system. It’s essential to take these steps to protect your WordPress site and its users from potential security threats.