CVE-2025-47466: Ultimate WP Mail CSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2025-47466 Overview

CVE-2025-47466 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Rustaurius Ultimate WP Mail plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all versions of the ultimate-wp-mail plugin up to and including 1.3.4. An attacker can craft a malicious request that, when triggered by an authenticated user visiting an attacker-controlled page, performs unintended state-changing actions in the plugin. The vulnerability is classified under [CWE-352] Cross-Site Request Forgery and requires user interaction to succeed.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation allows attackers to perform unauthorized actions within the Ultimate WP Mail plugin context by tricking authenticated WordPress users into submitting forged requests.

Affected Products

Rustaurius Ultimate WP Mail plugin for WordPress
All versions from n/a through 1.3.4
WordPress installations with ultimate-wp-mail enabled

Discovery Timeline

2025-05-07 - CVE-2025-47466 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-47466

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from missing or insufficient CSRF protections in one or more request handlers within the Ultimate WP Mail plugin. WordPress plugins are expected to validate state-changing requests using anti-CSRF tokens implemented through the WordPress nonce system (wp_nonce_field, check_admin_referer, and wp_verify_nonce). When these checks are absent or improperly implemented, an attacker can craft an HTML form or JavaScript payload hosted on an external site that submits requests to a target WordPress instance using the victim's authenticated session cookies.

The attack requires user interaction, meaning the victim must click a link or visit a page controlled by the attacker while logged in to the vulnerable WordPress site. Impact is limited to integrity and availability changes in the plugin's scope rather than full site takeover or data exfiltration.

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence of nonce validation on state-changing endpoints exposed by the ultimate-wp-mail plugin through versions up to 1.3.4. Without a nonce or origin verification check, the WordPress backend accepts any request bearing valid session cookies, regardless of the request's origin.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based over HTTP(S). An attacker hosts a page containing a hidden form or fetch call targeting a vulnerable endpoint on the victim's WordPress site. When an authenticated administrator or privileged user visits the attacker's page, the browser automatically attaches session cookies to the forged request. The plugin processes the request as if it originated from a legitimate user action.

Refer to the Patchstack CSRF Vulnerability Report for additional technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-47466

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected changes to Ultimate WP Mail configuration or email templates
HTTP POST requests to ultimate-wp-mail plugin endpoints with Referer headers pointing to external, untrusted domains
Unexplained outbound emails or campaign changes originating from the plugin
Access log entries showing state-changing requests without preceding admin panel navigation

Detection Strategies

Review WordPress access logs for POST requests to plugin endpoints where the Referer does not match the site's own domain
Correlate administrator sessions with plugin configuration changes to identify anomalous modifications
Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to flag or block cross-origin POST requests to WordPress admin endpoints missing valid nonces

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable WordPress audit logging to record plugin setting changes and administrative actions
Monitor outbound SMTP traffic for unexpected volume or destinations tied to Ultimate WP Mail
Alert on administrator accounts performing configuration changes shortly after visiting external links

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-47466

Immediate Actions Required

Update the Ultimate WP Mail plugin to a version later than 1.3.4 as soon as the vendor releases a patched release
Audit recent plugin configuration changes and email activity for signs of forged requests
Restrict WordPress administrator access to trusted networks and enforce short session lifetimes

Patch Information

At the time of publication, the vendor advisory referenced by Patchstack indicates the issue affects the plugin from n/a through 1.3.4. Administrators should monitor the plugin's official repository page and apply any released update that addresses this CSRF issue.

Workarounds

Deactivate and remove the ultimate-wp-mail plugin until a fixed version is available
Deploy a WAF rule that enforces same-origin policy for POST requests to /wp-admin/ and plugin AJAX endpoints
Train administrators to log out of WordPress when browsing external sites and to use separate browser profiles for administrative work
Require two-factor authentication for all privileged WordPress accounts to reduce the value of hijacked sessions

bash

# Example WAF rule concept: block cross-origin POST to WordPress admin endpoints
# ModSecurity pseudo-rule
SecRule REQUEST_METHOD "@streq POST" \
  "chain,deny,status:403,id:1004747,msg:'Cross-origin POST to wp-admin blocked'"
  SecRule REQUEST_URI "@beginsWith /wp-admin/" "chain"
  SecRule REQUEST_HEADERS:Referer "!@beginsWith https://your-site.example.com/"