CVE-2025-48325 Overview
CVE-2025-48325 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the shmish111 WP Admin Theme plugin for WordPress. The flaw, classified under [CWE-352], affects all versions up to and including 1.0. An attacker who tricks an authenticated administrator into visiting a crafted page can submit forged requests that result in Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) within the WordPress admin interface. Once injected, the persistent script executes in the browser of any user who loads the affected admin page.
Critical Impact
A successful attack chains CSRF with Stored XSS, enabling persistent script execution in administrator sessions and potential takeover of WordPress site management functions.
Affected Products
- shmish111 WP Admin Theme (wp-admin-theme) plugin for WordPress
- All versions from n/a through <= 1.0
- WordPress installations with the plugin activated
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-08-28 - CVE-2025-48325 published to NVD
- 2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-48325
Vulnerability Analysis
The WP Admin Theme plugin exposes administrative state-changing endpoints without verifying the origin or authenticity of the request. The plugin omits WordPress nonce validation (wp_verify_nonce() / check_admin_referer()) on handlers that accept and store user-supplied input. Because the stored values are later rendered in the WordPress dashboard without proper output encoding, an attacker can persist arbitrary JavaScript in plugin settings.
The attack requires user interaction — a logged-in administrator must load attacker-controlled content. Once executed, the injected script runs in the privileged admin context, allowing further actions such as creating administrator accounts, modifying plugin or theme files, or exfiltrating session data.
Root Cause
The root cause is the absence of anti-CSRF tokens on settings-update handlers in the wp-admin-theme plugin, combined with insufficient sanitization of stored values rendered back to the admin UI. WordPress provides built-in nonce APIs and escaping helpers such as esc_html() and esc_attr(), but the vulnerable plugin does not apply them on the affected code paths.
Attack Vector
Exploitation is network-based and requires user interaction. An attacker hosts a malicious page containing an auto-submitting HTML form or XMLHttpRequest targeting the plugin's settings endpoint on the victim's WordPress site. When an authenticated administrator visits the page, the browser automatically attaches session cookies and the forged request is processed. The attacker-supplied payload is stored in the plugin configuration and later rendered as executable JavaScript in the admin dashboard, completing the CSRF-to-Stored-XSS chain. See the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for additional technical context.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-48325
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected <script> tags, event handlers, or encoded JavaScript stored in WP Admin Theme plugin options within the wp_options table.
- Outbound HTTP requests from administrator browsers to unfamiliar domains shortly after loading /wp-admin/ pages.
- Newly created WordPress administrator accounts or modified user roles without a corresponding audit trail.
- Web server logs showing POST requests to plugin endpoints with Referer headers from external domains.
Detection Strategies
- Inspect the wp_options table for plugin settings containing HTML or JavaScript syntax not expected in configuration values.
- Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) ruleset that flags POST requests to WordPress admin endpoints lacking valid nonce parameters.
- Review WordPress activity logs for settings changes that do not correlate with legitimate administrator workflows.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable verbose access logging on /wp-admin/ and alert on cross-origin Referer headers tied to state-changing requests.
- Monitor administrator endpoint processes for browser-spawned child activity indicative of script-driven actions.
- Track plugin file integrity and option-table changes with a WordPress security plugin or file integrity monitoring tool.
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-48325
Immediate Actions Required
- Deactivate and remove the wp-admin-theme plugin until a patched release is available, as the plugin is affected through version 1.0 with no fixed version listed.
- Audit wp_options and user accounts for unauthorized changes introduced while the plugin was active.
- Force a password reset and session invalidation for all WordPress administrator accounts.
Patch Information
No vendor patch is referenced in the available advisory data. The Patchstack Vulnerability Report tracks remediation status for this issue. Until an updated version is published, removal is the recommended path.
Workarounds
- Restrict access to /wp-admin/ by source IP using web server or WAF rules to limit CSRF exposure.
- Require administrators to use isolated browser profiles for WordPress management to reduce cross-site request risk.
- Enforce a strict Content Security Policy (CSP) on the WordPress admin interface to limit execution of injected inline scripts.
- Replace the plugin's functionality with an actively maintained alternative that implements WordPress nonce verification.
# Configuration example: disable the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate wp-admin-theme
wp plugin delete wp-admin-theme
# Audit stored options for suspicious script content
wp option list --search="*wp_admin_theme*" --format=json
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
