CVE-2025-15672: ChamaWP WordPress Plugin RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2025-15672 Overview

CVE-2025-15672 is a PHP object injection vulnerability affecting the ChamaWP WordPress plugin in versions prior to 1.0.13. The plugin passes unvalidated user input to a PHP deserialization function, allowing unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary PHP objects. When a suitable gadget chain exists in other installed code, this flaw can escalate to remote code execution. The issue is tracked under CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data.

Critical Impact
Unauthenticated attackers can inject arbitrary PHP objects into vulnerable ChamaWP installations, potentially achieving remote code execution when a gadget chain is available in the target WordPress environment.

Affected Products

ChamaWP WordPress plugin versions before 1.0.13
WordPress sites with ChamaWP installed alongside plugins or themes containing exploitable PHP gadget chains
Public-facing WordPress deployments exposing the affected plugin endpoints

Discovery Timeline

2026-08-03 - CVE-2025-15672 published to NVD
2026-08-04 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-15672

Vulnerability Analysis

The ChamaWP plugin accepts user-controlled data and passes it directly to a PHP deserialization routine such as unserialize(). Because the input is not validated or filtered, an attacker can craft a serialized payload that instantiates arbitrary PHP objects during deserialization. This behavior aligns with CWE-502, insecure deserialization.

Object injection alone does not always yield code execution. Exploitation requires a gadget chain, meaning classes with magic methods such as __destruct, __wakeup, or __toString that perform sensitive operations. WordPress core and popular plugins have historically provided such gadgets, making exploitation practical in real deployments.

The vulnerability is unauthenticated and reachable over the network, expanding the attack surface to any internet-exposed site running a vulnerable ChamaWP version. Details are documented in the WPScan Vulnerability Report.

Root Cause

The root cause is the direct passing of attacker-controlled input to PHP's deserialization function without input validation, type checking, or use of safe alternatives such as json_decode(). The plugin does not enforce integrity of serialized blobs and lacks an allowlist of expected classes.

Attack Vector

An attacker sends a crafted HTTP request containing a malicious serialized PHP string to a vulnerable ChamaWP endpoint. When the plugin deserializes the payload, arbitrary PHP objects are instantiated. If a gadget chain is present in the WordPress instance, subsequent method invocations can trigger file writes, arbitrary code execution, or data exfiltration. No authentication or user interaction is required.

A proof-of-concept payload has not been published in the referenced advisory. See the WPScan Vulnerability Report for additional technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-15672

Indicators of Compromise

Inbound HTTP POST or GET requests containing serialized PHP patterns such as O:, a:, or s: in parameters processed by ChamaWP
Unexpected PHP processes spawned by the web server user (www-data, apache, nginx) following requests to ChamaWP endpoints
New or modified PHP files in wp-content/, wp-includes/, or plugin directories with recent timestamps
Outbound network connections from the WordPress host to unfamiliar external hosts shortly after suspicious requests

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server access logs for serialized object markers in query strings and POST bodies targeting ChamaWP URLs
Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule that flags requests containing PHP serialization primitives to WordPress endpoints
Monitor the WordPress plugin inventory for ChamaWP versions below 1.0.13

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable file integrity monitoring on the WordPress installation directory, especially wp-content/plugins/ and wp-content/uploads/
Forward web server, PHP-FPM, and system logs to a centralized analytics platform for correlation of exploitation attempts
Alert on web server processes executing shells, package managers, or outbound curl/wget commands

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-15672

Immediate Actions Required

Update the ChamaWP plugin to version 1.0.13 or later on all WordPress instances
Audit the plugin inventory across managed WordPress sites to identify vulnerable installations
Review web server logs for evidence of exploitation attempts predating the patch

Patch Information

Upgrade to ChamaWP version 1.0.13 or later, which corrects the unsafe deserialization behavior. Refer to the WPScan Vulnerability Report for advisory details and fix confirmation.

Workarounds

If immediate patching is not possible, deactivate and remove the ChamaWP plugin until the update can be applied
Restrict access to WordPress admin and plugin endpoints using IP allowlisting at the web server or WAF layer
Deploy a WAF signature that blocks PHP serialized payloads in request parameters targeting the affected plugin routes

bash

# Example WP-CLI commands to identify and update the vulnerable plugin
wp plugin list --name=chamawp --fields=name,status,version
wp plugin update chamawp --version=1.0.13
# If a patch is not yet feasible, deactivate the plugin
wp plugin deactivate chamawp