CVE-2025-49985: Auto Upload Images SSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2025-49985 Overview

CVE-2025-49985 is a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability [CWE-918] in the Ali Irani Auto Upload Images plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all plugin versions up to and including 3.3.2. An authenticated attacker with low privileges can coerce the WordPress server into issuing arbitrary HTTP requests to internal or external resources. This behavior enables reconnaissance of internal network services, access to cloud metadata endpoints, and interaction with resources not directly reachable from the internet.

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers can abuse the plugin's remote image fetch functionality to pivot into internal networks, enumerate services, and access cloud provider metadata endpoints such as AWS IMDS.

Affected Products

Ali Irani Auto Upload Images plugin for WordPress — all versions up to and including 3.3.2
WordPress installations with the auto-upload-images plugin activated
Sites hosted on cloud platforms exposing metadata services (AWS, Azure, GCP)

Discovery Timeline

2025-06-20 - CVE-2025-49985 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-49985

Vulnerability Analysis

The Auto Upload Images plugin scans WordPress post content for externally hosted images and automatically downloads them to the local media library. This convenience feature performs server-side HTTP requests to URLs supplied through post content. The plugin does not adequately validate or restrict the destination of these requests, which creates the SSRF condition.

An authenticated user with post-editing privileges can insert crafted URLs into a post. When the plugin processes those URLs, the WordPress server issues outbound HTTP requests on the attacker's behalf. Attack complexity is elevated because the attacker must possess valid credentials and interact with plugin-triggered fetch logic, but no user interaction on the target side is required.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing validation of user-controlled URLs before the plugin dispatches HTTP requests through WordPress core functions. The plugin lacks an allowlist of external hosts, does not block private IP ranges (RFC 1918), and does not filter loopback or link-local addresses such as 127.0.0.1 or 169.254.169.254. This absence of scheme and host restrictions allows attackers to redirect the server-side fetcher to any reachable endpoint.

Attack Vector

The attacker authenticates to WordPress with a low-privilege account capable of creating or editing posts. The attacker embeds an image reference pointing to an internal address, such as a cloud metadata service or an internal management interface. When the plugin auto-processes the post, the server fetches the crafted URL. Response contents or timing differences reveal internal service exposure, and in cloud environments the fetch can retrieve temporary IAM credentials from the instance metadata service.

No verified public exploit code is available for CVE-2025-49985. Refer to the Patchstack SSRF Vulnerability Report for advisory details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-49985

Indicators of Compromise

Outbound HTTP requests originating from the WordPress PHP process to internal IP ranges (10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16).
Requests from the web server to cloud metadata endpoints such as 169.254.169.254 or metadata.google.internal.
Unexpected entries in WordPress media library with source URLs referencing non-image endpoints or unusual ports.
Web server access logs showing post edits by low-privilege accounts followed immediately by outbound fetch activity.

Detection Strategies

Monitor egress traffic from web servers hosting WordPress for connections to private, loopback, or link-local addresses.
Inspect PHP error logs and WordPress debug logs for failed HTTP fetch attempts triggered by the auto-upload-images plugin.
Correlate authenticated WordPress post-edit events with outbound network flows from the same host within short time windows.
Deploy web application firewall rules that inspect post content for image URLs pointing to internal address ranges.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable network flow logging on cloud instances hosting WordPress and alert on requests to the instance metadata service.
Track plugin version inventory across managed WordPress sites and flag any host running auto-upload-images at 3.3.2 or earlier.
Baseline normal outbound destinations for the web server and alert on new internal destinations.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-49985

Immediate Actions Required

Update the Auto Upload Images plugin to a version released after 3.3.2 once the vendor publishes a patched release.
Deactivate and remove the plugin if no fixed version is available and the auto-upload functionality is not required.
Restrict WordPress author, editor, and contributor accounts to trusted users and audit existing accounts for suspicious activity.
On cloud instances, enforce IMDSv2 with session tokens to block SSRF-based credential theft from the metadata service.

Patch Information

Review the Patchstack SSRF Vulnerability Report for the latest fixed version guidance. The advisory tracks vendor remediation status for versions after 3.3.2.

Workarounds

Block outbound HTTP and HTTPS requests from the WordPress server to private IP ranges and cloud metadata endpoints using host-based firewall rules.
Place the WordPress server behind an egress proxy that enforces an allowlist of permitted external image hosts.
Temporarily disable the plugin's auto-upload behavior for untrusted authors through role and capability restrictions.

bash

# Example iptables rules to block SSRF pivots to internal and metadata endpoints
iptables -A OUTPUT -m owner --uid-owner www-data -d 169.254.169.254 -j REJECT
iptables -A OUTPUT -m owner --uid-owner www-data -d 10.0.0.0/8 -j REJECT
iptables -A OUTPUT -m owner --uid-owner www-data -d 172.16.0.0/12 -j REJECT
iptables -A OUTPUT -m owner --uid-owner www-data -d 192.168.0.0/16 -j REJECT