CVE-2025-31845: Theme Duplicator CSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2025-31845 Overview

CVE-2025-31845 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Rohit Choudhary Theme Duplicator plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all versions of theme-duplicator up to and including 1.1. Attackers can trick authenticated WordPress users into submitting forged requests to plugin endpoints that lack anti-CSRF token validation. Successful exploitation requires user interaction, typically achieved by luring a logged-in administrator to a malicious web page. The issue is tracked under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery.

Critical Impact
Attackers can perform unauthorized theme duplication or state-changing plugin actions on behalf of an authenticated WordPress administrator, resulting in limited integrity impact on the target site.

Affected Products

Rohit Choudhary Theme Duplicator plugin for WordPress
All versions from n/a through 1.1
WordPress sites with the theme-duplicator plugin installed and active

Discovery Timeline

2025-04-01 - CVE-2025-31845 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-31845

Vulnerability Analysis

The Theme Duplicator plugin exposes state-changing actions through WordPress admin endpoints without validating that the request originated from an authorized user interface. The plugin fails to implement WordPress nonce verification using wp_verify_nonce() or check_admin_referer() before executing sensitive operations. An attacker crafts a malicious HTML page containing an auto-submitting form or image tag that targets the vulnerable plugin endpoint. When an authenticated administrator visits the attacker-controlled page, the browser automatically includes the WordPress session cookie in the forged request. The plugin then processes the action as legitimate, since no additional origin verification is performed.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing anti-CSRF token validation on plugin request handlers. WordPress provides the nonce mechanism specifically to bind requests to a user session, and the plugin does not use it on endpoints performing theme duplication or configuration changes. This maps directly to CWE-352.

Attack Vector

Exploitation is network-based and requires user interaction. An attacker hosts a page containing a hidden form that posts to the target WordPress site's plugin action URL. The attacker then delivers the link via phishing, forum posts, or malicious advertising. When a logged-in administrator loads the page, the browser submits the request with valid session cookies. Refer to the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Report for further detail. No exploit code has been published, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-31845

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected duplicated theme directories under wp-content/themes/ created outside of administrator workflows
HTTP POST requests to Theme Duplicator plugin endpoints with Referer headers pointing to external, untrusted domains
Administrator sessions performing plugin actions immediately after visiting external links in web server logs
Theme file modifications with timestamps that do not correlate with legitimate admin activity

Detection Strategies

Inspect WordPress access logs for requests to theme-duplicator action URLs that lack an internal Referer header from wp-admin
Enable and review WordPress audit logging plugins to correlate theme changes with administrator sessions
Monitor file integrity on the wp-content/themes/ directory for unauthorized additions or duplications

Monitoring Recommendations

Alert on plugin administrative actions originating from cross-origin referrers
Track new theme directory creation events and validate against a known-change list
Correlate administrator browser activity with plugin state changes to identify CSRF patterns

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-31845

Immediate Actions Required

Deactivate and remove the Theme Duplicator plugin until a patched version is confirmed available
Instruct WordPress administrators to log out of the admin panel when not actively using it
Enforce browser session isolation for administrator accounts to reduce CSRF exposure
Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule that blocks requests to plugin endpoints missing valid nonces

Patch Information

At the time of the latest NVD update, no fixed version beyond 1.1 has been documented in the referenced advisory. Administrators should monitor the Patchstack advisory and the plugin's WordPress.org page for an official update. Until a patch is released, uninstall the plugin.

Workarounds

Remove the theme-duplicator plugin from the WordPress installation entirely
Restrict access to /wp-admin/ by IP allowlist through the web server or reverse proxy
Require administrators to use browser profiles dedicated to WordPress management to limit cross-site cookie exposure
Enable SameSite=Strict on WordPress session cookies where feasible to block cross-origin submissions

bash

# Configuration example: remove the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate theme-duplicator
wp plugin delete theme-duplicator

# Optional: restrict wp-admin by IP in nginx
# location ^~ /wp-admin/ {
#     allow 203.0.113.0/24;
#     deny all;
# }