Overview
The world of cybersecurity is no stranger to vulnerabilities. As the digital age continues to expand, so too do the opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit system weaknesses. A recently discovered vulnerability, CVE-2025-6065, has been brought to light, affecting the Image Resizer On The Fly plugin for WordPress. This vulnerability matters because it can lead to arbitrary file deletion, and in turn, remote code execution which can compromise your WordPress site. If you are a user of the plugin, it is crucial to understand this vulnerability and how to mitigate it.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-6065
Severity: Critical (9.1 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Arbitrary file deletion leading to system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Image Resizer On The Fly plugin | Up to and including 1.1
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability arises due to insufficient file path validation in the ‘delete’ task of the Image Resizer On The Fly plugin in all versions up to, and including, 1.1. This flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to delete arbitrary files on the server. If a critical file such as wp-config.php is deleted, it could pave the way for remote code execution. This occurs as deleting wp-config.php can cause WordPress to fall back to its installation process, during which an attacker can reconfigure the database connection to their advantage.
Conceptual Example Code
The following pseudocode demonstrates how this vulnerability might be exploited:
DELETE /path/to/wp-config.php HTTP/1.1
Host: vulnerable-wordpress-site.comAn attacker can send a DELETE HTTP request to the server, targeting the wp-config.php file. If the server doesn’t properly validate the requested file path, the wp-config.php file would be deleted, leading to potentially disastrous consequences.
Mitigation Guidance
To mitigate this critical vulnerability, the most straightforward and effective solution is to apply the vendor patch. It is also recommended to use Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) or Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) as temporary mitigation. These solutions will help to monitor and control the incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security policies, providing an additional layer of protection against potential exploitation of this vulnerability.