Overview
This blog post focuses on the critical vulnerability CVE-2025-9018, a significant security issue found in the Time Tracker Plugin for WordPress. The vulnerability lies in its ability to allow for unauthorized modification and loss of data, which puts multiple WordPress sites at a high risk. The presence of this vulnerability in a widely-used plugin like Time Tracker underlines its potential severity and the need for immediate mitigation.
The flaw affects all versions up to, and including, 3.1.0 of the plugin and potentially exposes websites to system compromise and data leakage. Given WordPress’s popularity as a content management system, this vulnerability could impact a significant number of websites, making this issue both critical and broadly applicable.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-9018
Severity: High (8.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low (Subscriber level)
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Unauthorized modification and deletion of data, potential system compromise and data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Time Tracker Plugin for WordPress | Up to 3.1.0
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability stems from a missing capability check on the ‘tt_update_table_function’ and ‘tt_delete_record_function’ functions in the Time Tracker Plugin for WordPress. This omission allows authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above to execute unauthorized modifications. They can update user registration options and default roles, which allows anyone to register as an Administrator. Additionally, they can delete limited data from the database.
Conceptual Example Code
Here is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited using an HTTP POST request:
POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=tt_update_table_function HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
user_registration=1&default_role=administratorThis conceptual example sends a POST request that attempts to change the user registration to open and sets the default role to administrator. If successful, this would allow anyone to create an administrator account on the WordPress site, leading to unauthorized access and potential data loss.
Mitigation and Patch
As a mitigation strategy, users are advised to apply the vendor patch as soon as it becomes available. Until then, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can provide temporary mitigation. It’s also recommended to revoke any suspiciously gained administrative privileges and monitor your website for any unusual activity.
