CVE-2025-47533: Graphina Elementor Charts CSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2025-47533 Overview

CVE-2025-47533 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Iqonic Design Graphina plugin (graphina-elementor-charts-and-graphs) for WordPress. The flaw chains a missing CSRF protection [CWE-352] with a PHP Local File Inclusion (LFI) sink. An attacker who tricks an authenticated administrator into visiting a crafted page can force the server to include arbitrary PHP files. The issue affects Graphina from unspecified versions through 3.0.4.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation can lead to disclosure of sensitive files, execution of attacker-controlled PHP, and full compromise of the WordPress site.

Affected Products

Iqonic Design Graphina (graphina-elementor-charts-and-graphs) WordPress plugin
All versions up to and including 3.0.4
WordPress sites with the Graphina Elementor Charts and Graphs plugin enabled

Discovery Timeline

2025-05-07 - CVE-2025-47533 published to NVD
2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-47533

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability combines two weaknesses in the Graphina plugin. First, a privileged action handler does not validate a CSRF nonce, allowing forged requests to be processed in the context of an authenticated user. Second, the same handler passes attacker-controlled input into a PHP file inclusion routine without sanitization.

When a logged-in administrator visits an attacker-controlled page, the browser silently issues the forged request to the WordPress site. The plugin honors the request and includes a PHP file path derived from the request parameters. This results in Local File Inclusion within the WordPress process.

The attack requires user interaction and some preconditions, which is reflected in the high attack complexity. However, the impact spans confidentiality, integrity, and availability because included PHP files execute with the privileges of the web server.

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence of anti-CSRF token verification (wp_verify_nonce or equivalent) on a state-changing endpoint that accepts a file path parameter. Combined with insufficient validation of the supplied path, this allows traversal to arbitrary local PHP files reachable by the web server process.

Attack Vector

Exploitation is network-based and requires social engineering. The attacker hosts a malicious page containing an auto-submitting form or image tag that targets the vulnerable Graphina endpoint. When an authenticated administrator loads the page, the request executes server-side with their session cookies. The included file may be a previously uploaded media file, a log file with attacker-controlled content, or any PHP file on disk that aids further compromise.

No public proof-of-concept exploit code is available. See the Patchstack advisory for the technical write-up.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-47533

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected HTTP POST or GET requests to Graphina admin-ajax or admin-post endpoints originating from external Referer headers.
Web server access logs showing path traversal sequences such as ../ or absolute paths in Graphina request parameters.
PHP error logs referencing include, require, or include_once calls with unusual file paths inside the Graphina plugin directory.
New or modified PHP files in the WordPress uploads directory shortly after a Graphina request.

Detection Strategies

Inspect WordPress access logs for requests to Graphina endpoints lacking a valid _wpnonce parameter or with suspicious Referer values.
Correlate administrator session activity with outbound clicks or email opens that immediately precede sensitive plugin requests.
Run file integrity monitoring against the wp-content/plugins/graphina-elementor-charts-and-graphs/ directory and the WordPress uploads folder.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable verbose logging on the WordPress application and forward logs to a centralized SIEM for correlation.
Alert on PHP include/require warnings that reference paths outside expected plugin directories.
Monitor administrator account activity for anomalous request patterns following email or web browsing events.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-47533

Immediate Actions Required

Update the Graphina plugin to a version newer than 3.0.4 once a fixed release is published by Iqonic Design.
If no fix is available, deactivate and remove the graphina-elementor-charts-and-graphs plugin from production WordPress installations.
Audit administrator accounts and rotate credentials and session tokens if exploitation is suspected.
Review the WordPress uploads directory for unauthorized PHP files and remove any that are not legitimate.

Patch Information

Refer to the Patchstack advisory for Graphina CSRF to LFI for the current patch status and remediation guidance from the vendor.

Workarounds

Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule that requires a valid _wpnonce and same-origin Referer on Graphina admin endpoints.
Restrict WordPress administrator access using IP allowlists and enforce multi-factor authentication on all privileged accounts.
Configure PHP open_basedir and disable execution of PHP within the WordPress uploads directory to limit the impact of file inclusion.

bash

# Block PHP execution in wp-content/uploads (Apache .htaccess)
<FilesMatch "\.(php|phtml|phar)$">
    Require all denied
</FilesMatch>