CVE-2025-48340: User Profile Meta Manager CSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2025-48340 Overview

A Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability has been identified in the User Profile Meta Manager WordPress plugin developed by Danny Vink. This vulnerability enables attackers to perform unauthorized privilege escalation attacks against authenticated WordPress administrators. By exploiting the lack of proper CSRF token validation, an attacker can craft malicious requests that execute administrative actions when a logged-in user visits an attacker-controlled page.

Critical Impact

This CSRF vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to escalate privileges on affected WordPress installations by tricking administrators into executing malicious requests, potentially resulting in complete site compromise.

Affected Products

• User Profile Meta Manager plugin versions from n/a through 1.02
• WordPress installations running the vulnerable plugin version

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-05-19 - CVE-2025-48340 published to NVD
• 2025-05-21 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-48340

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from the User Profile Meta Manager plugin's failure to implement proper Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) protections on sensitive administrative functions. The plugin manages user profile metadata in WordPress, and without adequate token validation, attackers can leverage the vulnerability to chain into privilege escalation attacks.

The attack requires no prior authentication, making it particularly dangerous. An attacker can craft a malicious webpage containing hidden forms or JavaScript that automatically submits requests to the vulnerable plugin endpoints. When an authenticated WordPress administrator visits this malicious page, their browser automatically includes their session cookies, causing the forged request to execute with administrative privileges.

The vulnerability is classified under CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery), which describes the scenario where a web application does not sufficiently verify that a well-formed, valid, and consistent request was intentionally provided by the user who submitted the request.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the absence of nonce verification in the User Profile Meta Manager plugin's administrative functions. WordPress provides built-in CSRF protection through nonces (number used once), which should be generated when rendering forms and verified when processing form submissions. The vulnerable plugin versions fail to implement this security mechanism, allowing forged requests from external origins to be processed as legitimate administrative actions.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires user interaction. An attacker must convince an authenticated WordPress administrator to visit a malicious webpage while they are logged into their WordPress dashboard. The attack flow typically involves:

1. The attacker identifies a WordPress site running the vulnerable User Profile Meta Manager plugin
2. The attacker creates a malicious webpage containing a hidden form or JavaScript payload targeting the vulnerable plugin endpoint
3. The attacker delivers the malicious link to the target administrator via phishing email, social engineering, or by injecting the payload into a compromised website
4. When the administrator visits the malicious page while authenticated to WordPress, their browser automatically sends the forged request with valid session credentials
5. The plugin processes the request without CSRF validation, allowing the attacker to modify user roles or escalate privileges

The vulnerability can be exploited through hidden HTML forms with auto-submission via JavaScript, or through XMLHttpRequest/fetch requests if CORS policies permit. The ultimate impact is privilege escalation, which could allow an attacker to grant themselves administrator access to the WordPress site.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-48340

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected user role changes or new administrator accounts created without authorization
• Unusual modification timestamps on user profile metadata
• Web server access logs showing POST requests to User Profile Meta Manager endpoints from external referrer domains
• User activity logs indicating administrative actions performed without corresponding legitimate administrator sessions

Detection Strategies

• Monitor WordPress user role changes and alert on any unexpected privilege escalations
• Implement referrer header validation logging to detect requests originating from external domains
• Review web application firewall (WAF) logs for suspicious patterns targeting the User Profile Meta Manager plugin
• Enable WordPress audit logging to track all user metadata modifications

Monitoring Recommendations

• Deploy a WordPress security plugin that monitors for unauthorized user role changes
• Configure alerts for new administrator account creation
• Implement continuous monitoring of plugin-related POST requests for anomalous patterns
• Regularly audit user accounts and their assigned roles to identify unauthorized changes

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-48340

Immediate Actions Required

• Immediately disable or remove the User Profile Meta Manager plugin until a patched version is available
• Audit all WordPress user accounts to verify no unauthorized privilege escalations have occurred
• Review web server logs for any suspicious requests to the plugin's endpoints
• Consider implementing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests to the vulnerable plugin

Patch Information

As of the last update, affected versions include User Profile Meta Manager through version 1.02. System administrators should monitor the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Advisory for updates on patched versions. Until a security update is released, the plugin should be deactivated on production WordPress sites.

Workarounds

• Deactivate and delete the User Profile Meta Manager plugin from all WordPress installations
• Implement a WAF rule to block POST requests to the plugin's vulnerable endpoints
• Restrict administrative access to WordPress using IP whitelisting where possible
• Educate administrators about phishing risks and the importance of not clicking unknown links while logged into WordPress
• Consider using alternative plugins with proper CSRF protection for user profile metadata management

# WordPress CLI command to deactivate the vulnerable plugin
wp plugin deactivate user-profile-meta-manager --path=/var/www/html/wordpress

# Verify no unauthorized administrator accounts exist
wp user list --role=administrator --path=/var/www/html/wordpress

# Remove the vulnerable plugin entirely
wp plugin delete user-profile-meta-manager --path=/var/www/html/wordpress