Overview
A critical vulnerability, CVE-2025-3055, has been discovered in the WP User Frontend Pro plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 4.1.3. This vulnerability is troubling news for organizations using WordPress as their primary content management system, as it could potentially lead to system compromise or data leakage.
The vulnerability is primarily due to insufficient file path validation in the delete_avatar_ajax() function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access and above, to delete arbitrary files on the server. When the right file such as wp-config.php is deleted, this could easily result in remote code execution.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-3055
Severity: Critical (CVSS score 8.1)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low (Subscriber-level access)
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise, data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
WP User Frontend Pro Plugin for WordPress | Up to and including 4.1.3
How the Exploit Works
The exploit takes advantage of the poorly validated file path in the delete_avatar_ajax() function of the WP User Frontend Pro plugin. An attacker with subscriber-level privileges or above, can send a maliciously crafted request to the function. This request can instruct the function to delete an important system file, such as wp-config.php. Once this file is deleted, the attacker can execute remote commands, leading to a system compromise.
Conceptual Example Code
Here’s a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. This pseudocode represents a malicious HTTP request that targets the delete_avatar_ajax() function to delete the wp-config.php file.
POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php HTTP/1.1
Host: targetsite.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
action=wpuf_delete_avatar&nonce=abc123&user_id=1&filepath=../../../wp-config.phpIn this example, the filepath parameter is manipulated to traverse directories and target the wp-config.php file for deletion. The nonce and user_id parameters would be replaced with actual values in a real attack.
Mitigation
The best way to remediate this vulnerability is to apply the vendor-supplied patch. If this is not possible, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can provide temporary mitigation. It is always recommended to keep all plugins and themes up-to-date to prevent exploitation of known vulnerabilities.