CVE-2025-24740 Overview
CVE-2025-24740 is an open redirect vulnerability in the ThimPress LearnPress plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects LearnPress versions up to and including 4.2.7.1. Attackers can craft URLs that appear to originate from a trusted LearnPress-powered site but redirect victims to attacker-controlled destinations. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-601 (URL Redirection to Untrusted Site).
Exploitation requires user interaction, typically through a phishing lure that entices a victim to click a manipulated link. Successful abuse enables credential harvesting, malware delivery, and brand impersonation campaigns.
Critical Impact
Attackers can leverage the trust of LearnPress-hosted domains to redirect users to malicious sites, facilitating phishing and drive-by download attacks against learners and administrators.
Affected Products
- ThimPress LearnPress WordPress plugin
- LearnPress versions through 4.2.7.1
- WordPress sites deploying vulnerable LearnPress installations
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-01-27 - CVE-2025-24740 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-24740
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability originates in redirect handling logic within the LearnPress plugin. LearnPress accepts a user-supplied URL parameter and passes it to a redirect function without validating that the destination belongs to an allowlist of trusted hosts. An attacker constructs a URL pointing to a legitimate LearnPress endpoint but injects an external URL into the redirect parameter.
When a victim clicks the crafted link, the browser first contacts the trusted LearnPress domain. The server then issues an HTTP redirect to the attacker-controlled destination. Security controls, email gateways, and users inspecting the initial hostname see the legitimate domain and permit the click.
The scope change reflected in the CVSS vector indicates that the vulnerable component impacts resources beyond its own security authority. This behavior is typical of open redirects because trust delegated to the vulnerable site propagates to the redirected destination.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing or insufficient validation of redirect target URLs. The plugin does not enforce that the destination host matches the site's origin or a curated allowlist. Any absolute URL supplied through the affected parameter is honored.
Attack Vector
An attacker crafts a phishing email or social media post containing a link to a vulnerable LearnPress site. The link includes a redirect parameter pointing to an attacker-controlled phishing page. The victim clicks the link, sees the trusted LearnPress domain in the initial URL, and is silently redirected to the malicious destination. The attacker collects credentials or delivers malware from the fraudulent site.
The vulnerability manifests in LearnPress redirect handling logic. Refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Analysis for additional technical context.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-24740
Indicators of Compromise
- HTTP requests to LearnPress endpoints containing external URLs in redirect-related parameters such as redirect_to, return_url, or url.
- Web server access logs showing 3xx responses immediately followed by Location headers pointing to unrelated domains.
- Referrer logs from external sites indicating traffic originating from LearnPress redirect endpoints.
Detection Strategies
- Inspect WordPress access logs for query parameters containing absolute URLs with hosts different from the site's own domain.
- Deploy web application firewall rules that flag parameter values matching absolute URL patterns (https?://) on LearnPress request paths.
- Correlate outbound redirect events with user-reported phishing incidents to identify abuse patterns.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable verbose logging on WordPress hosts and centralize logs for query-string analysis.
- Monitor domain reputation feeds for phishing campaigns leveraging your LearnPress domains as intermediate hops.
- Alert on anomalous spikes in traffic to LearnPress redirect endpoints that terminate at external hostnames.
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-24740
Immediate Actions Required
- Identify all WordPress sites running LearnPress and inventory installed versions.
- Update LearnPress to a version released after 4.2.7.1 that addresses the open redirect flaw.
- Notify users and administrators about phishing risks and instruct them to inspect final destination URLs before entering credentials.
Patch Information
ThimPress addresses the flaw in LearnPress releases published after version 4.2.7.1. Site owners should apply the latest LearnPress update through the WordPress plugin manager. Consult the Patchstack Vulnerability Analysis for the fixed version and remediation details.
Workarounds
- Deploy WAF rules that block requests to LearnPress endpoints when redirect parameters contain absolute URLs referencing external hosts.
- Restrict administrative access to LearnPress management URLs to reduce the attack surface exposed to unauthenticated users.
- Educate users to hover over links and verify final destinations, especially when links purport to originate from course platforms.
# Example ModSecurity rule blocking external redirect targets on LearnPress endpoints
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains /learnpress" \
"chain,phase:2,deny,status:403,id:1002460,\
msg:'Blocked LearnPress open redirect attempt (CVE-2025-24740)'"
SecRule ARGS_NAMES "@rx (redirect|return|url|next)" \
"chain"
SecRule ARGS "@rx ^https?://(?!yourdomain\.com)" "t:none"
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
