CVE-2025-24685: Morkva UA Shipping Path Traversal Flaw

CVE-2025-24685 Overview

CVE-2025-24685 is a Path Traversal vulnerability affecting the Morkva UA Shipping WordPress plugin developed by Ihor Kit. The vulnerability allows attackers to exploit improper input validation using the '.../...//' traversal pattern to achieve PHP Local File Inclusion (LFI). This flaw enables unauthenticated remote attackers to read arbitrary files on the server or potentially include malicious PHP files, leading to sensitive data exposure or remote code execution.

Critical Impact

Attackers can leverage this path traversal vulnerability to read sensitive configuration files such as wp-config.php, potentially exposing database credentials, authentication keys, and other critical WordPress configuration data. In certain conditions, this could escalate to arbitrary code execution through PHP Local File Inclusion.

Affected Products

• Morkva UA Shipping WordPress Plugin version 1.0.18 and earlier
• WordPress installations running vulnerable versions of morkva-ua-shipping plugin

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-01-27 - CVE-2025-24685 published to NVD
• 2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-24685

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-35 (Path Traversal: '.../...//'). The Morkva UA Shipping plugin fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before using it in file path operations. The vulnerability exists in how the plugin handles file inclusion requests, allowing attackers to escape the intended directory structure using specially crafted traversal sequences.

The attack can be executed remotely over the network, though exploitation requires certain preconditions to be met, making it somewhat complex to successfully exploit. Despite the complexity, a successful attack results in significant impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability lies in insufficient input validation and sanitization within the Morkva UA Shipping plugin's file handling functionality. The plugin fails to properly filter or reject path traversal sequences like '.../...//' from user-controlled input. This allows attackers to break out of the intended directory and access files located elsewhere on the filesystem.

WordPress plugins that implement custom file inclusion or template loading mechanisms without leveraging WordPress's built-in sanitization functions are particularly susceptible to this class of vulnerability.

Attack Vector

The attack is conducted over the network without requiring any prior authentication or user interaction. An attacker can craft malicious HTTP requests containing path traversal sequences to manipulate file paths processed by the vulnerable plugin. The traversal pattern '.../...//' is designed to bypass simple sanitization filters that may only check for standard ../ sequences.

A typical exploitation scenario involves sending requests that include manipulated path parameters, causing the server to include or read files outside the intended plugin directory. This can result in:

• Disclosure of sensitive WordPress configuration files
• Access to system files readable by the web server user
• Potential PHP code execution if combined with file upload functionality or log poisoning techniques

The vulnerability mechanism centers on the plugin's failure to properly validate and sanitize file path input. When processing requests, the plugin accepts user-supplied path components without adequately checking for directory traversal sequences. The double-dot pattern with additional characters ('.../...//') is specifically designed to evade basic pattern matching that only looks for standard ../ traversal strings.

For detailed technical analysis and exploitation mechanics, refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-24685

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual HTTP requests to the Morkva UA Shipping plugin endpoints containing path traversal sequences such as .../.../, ../, or encoded variants
• Web server access logs showing requests with excessive directory traversal patterns targeting /wp-content/plugins/morkva-ua-shipping/
• Unexpected file access attempts in PHP error logs referencing files outside the plugin directory
• Evidence of wp-config.php or /etc/passwd content in server responses or exfiltration attempts

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block path traversal patterns including encoded variants like %2e%2e%2f and %2e%2e%5c
• Monitor web server access logs for requests containing traversal sequences targeting WordPress plugin directories
• Implement file integrity monitoring on critical WordPress configuration files to detect unauthorized access
• Use SentinelOne's runtime protection capabilities to identify suspicious file access patterns from web server processes

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for WordPress plugin activity and PHP file operations
• Configure real-time alerting for requests containing known path traversal patterns
• Monitor for anomalous file read operations by the web server process, especially targeting sensitive system or configuration files
• Review PHP error logs regularly for warnings related to file inclusion or path handling errors

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-24685

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the Morkva UA Shipping plugin to a patched version as soon as one becomes available from the vendor
• If no patch is available, consider temporarily deactivating the Morkva UA Shipping plugin until a fix is released
• Implement WAF rules to block path traversal attempts targeting WordPress plugin directories
• Review web server logs for any evidence of exploitation attempts
• Restrict file system permissions to limit the web server's access to only required directories

Patch Information

Affected versions include Morkva UA Shipping version 1.0.18 and all prior versions. Website administrators should monitor the WordPress plugin repository and the Patchstack security advisory for updates regarding a security patch. Until a patch is available, implement the workarounds described below to reduce risk exposure.

Workarounds

• Temporarily disable the Morkva UA Shipping plugin if shipping functionality can be handled through alternative means
• Deploy ModSecurity or similar WAF with rules to block path traversal sequences in request parameters
• Use a security plugin like Wordfence or Sucuri to add additional protection layers against LFI attacks
• Restrict PHP's open_basedir directive to limit file system access to the WordPress installation directory

# Apache ModSecurity rule to block path traversal attempts
SecRule REQUEST_URI|ARGS|ARGS_NAMES "@rx (\.\./|\.\.\\|%2e%2e%2f|%2e%2e%5c)" \
    "id:1001,phase:2,deny,status:403,log,msg:'Path Traversal Attempt Detected'"

# PHP configuration to restrict file access (add to php.ini or .htaccess)
# Replace /var/www/html with your WordPress installation path
php_value open_basedir /var/www/html:/tmp