CVE-2025-49417: WooCommerce Product Multi-Action Vulnerability

CVE-2025-49417 Overview

CVE-2025-49417 is a critical deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability affecting the WooCommerce Product Multi-Action plugin developed by BestWpDeveloper. This vulnerability allows attackers to perform Object Injection attacks against WordPress installations running vulnerable versions of the plugin. Successful exploitation could enable remote attackers to execute arbitrary code, manipulate application data, or compromise the entire WordPress installation without requiring authentication.

Critical Impact

This vulnerability enables unauthenticated Object Injection through insecure deserialization, potentially leading to complete site compromise, remote code execution, and unauthorized access to sensitive e-commerce data.

Affected Products

• WooCommerce Product Multi-Action version 1.3 and earlier
• WordPress installations with the woo-product-multiaction plugin installed
• E-commerce sites utilizing WooCommerce with this plugin enabled

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-07-04 - CVE-2025-49417 published to NVD
• 2025-07-08 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-49417

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data. The WooCommerce Product Multi-Action plugin fails to properly validate and sanitize serialized data before processing it through PHP's unserialize() function or similar deserialization mechanisms. When user-controlled data is passed to deserialization functions without proper validation, attackers can inject malicious serialized objects that execute arbitrary code upon deserialization.

In the context of WordPress plugins, Object Injection vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous because they can leverage existing class definitions within WordPress core, WooCommerce, or other installed plugins to create "gadget chains" that perform malicious actions. These gadget chains can be used to write arbitrary files, execute system commands, or establish persistent backdoors.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-49417 lies in the plugin's acceptance of untrusted serialized data without implementing proper input validation or using safer data interchange formats. The plugin processes serialized PHP objects from user-controllable input sources, allowing attackers to craft malicious payloads that instantiate arbitrary objects with attacker-controlled properties. When these objects are deserialized and their magic methods (such as __wakeup(), __destruct(), or __toString()) are invoked, the malicious payload executes.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability is exploitable over the network without requiring authentication, allowing any remote attacker to target vulnerable WordPress sites. The attack involves crafting a specially constructed serialized PHP object payload and submitting it to the vulnerable endpoint within the WooCommerce Product Multi-Action plugin. Since no privileges or user interaction are required, automated exploitation at scale is feasible.

The attack typically follows this pattern: an attacker identifies a WordPress site running the vulnerable plugin version, constructs a serialized object payload using known PHP gadget chains available in WordPress or WooCommerce, and submits the payload to the vulnerable endpoint. Upon deserialization, the malicious object's methods execute with the privileges of the web server, potentially enabling full server compromise.

For detailed technical analysis of this vulnerability, refer to the Patchstack security advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-49417

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual serialized data patterns in HTTP request logs containing PHP object notation (e.g., O:, a:, s: prefixes)
• Unexpected file modifications in WordPress directories, particularly in wp-content/uploads or plugin folders
• Creation of unknown PHP files with obfuscated code or webshell signatures
• Anomalous outbound network connections from the web server process
• Database modifications to WordPress options or user tables without administrative action

Detection Strategies

• Monitor web server access logs for POST requests containing serialized PHP object payloads targeting the woo-product-multiaction plugin endpoints
• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block serialized PHP object patterns in request bodies
• Deploy file integrity monitoring on WordPress installations to detect unauthorized file changes
• Configure intrusion detection systems to alert on PHP deserialization attack signatures

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for all requests to WordPress plugin endpoints
• Set up automated alerts for new file creation within the WordPress directory structure
• Monitor for unusual process spawning from web server processes (PHP-FPM, Apache, Nginx)
• Regularly audit installed WordPress plugins against known vulnerability databases

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-49417

Immediate Actions Required

• Deactivate and remove the WooCommerce Product Multi-Action plugin if it is not critical to operations
• Audit WordPress installations for signs of compromise or unauthorized modifications
• Review server access logs for exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability
• Consider implementing a Web Application Firewall with serialization attack blocking capabilities
• Conduct a security assessment of all installed WordPress plugins

Patch Information

At the time of publication, administrators should check for updates to the WooCommerce Product Multi-Action plugin beyond version 1.3. Monitor the Patchstack vulnerability database and the WordPress plugin repository for security patches. If no patch is available, consider removing the plugin until a fixed version is released.

Workarounds

• Disable the WooCommerce Product Multi-Action plugin until a patched version is available
• Implement WAF rules to block requests containing PHP serialized object patterns
• Restrict access to WordPress admin and plugin endpoints using IP allowlisting
• Use security plugins that can detect and block deserialization attacks

# Example: Disable the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate woo-product-multiaction --path=/var/www/html/wordpress

# Verify the plugin is deactivated
wp plugin status woo-product-multiaction --path=/var/www/html/wordpress

# Optional: Remove the plugin entirely
wp plugin delete woo-product-multiaction --path=/var/www/html/wordpress