CVE-2025-53250: Chartbeat Plugin SSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2025-53250 Overview

CVE-2025-53250 is a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability [CWE-918] in the Chartbeat WordPress plugin. The flaw affects all plugin versions up to and including 2.0.7. An authenticated attacker with low privileges can coerce the WordPress server into issuing arbitrary outbound HTTP requests. This can be used to probe internal network services, read metadata from cloud provider endpoints, or exfiltrate limited response data.

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers can abuse the plugin to make the WordPress server issue attacker-controlled requests, exposing internal services and data behind the network perimeter.

Affected Products

Chartbeat WordPress plugin versions through 2.0.7
WordPress sites with the vulnerable plugin installed and active
Environments where low-privileged accounts can reach plugin functionality

Discovery Timeline

2025-08-28 - CVE-2025-53250 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-53250

Vulnerability Analysis

The Chartbeat plugin accepts user-supplied input that is passed into a server-side HTTP request function without sufficient validation of the target URL. Because the plugin does not restrict the destination host, scheme, or IP range, an authenticated user can direct the server to fetch arbitrary URLs. This class of flaw is tracked as CWE-918: Server-Side Request Forgery.

The vulnerability requires low privileges and no user interaction. The scope is changed, meaning exploitation can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component, such as internal services accessible only from the WordPress host.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing allow-list validation on URL parameters consumed by the plugin's request-issuing code path. The plugin trusts user-supplied hostnames and forwards them to an outbound HTTP client. There is no filtering of internal IP ranges (127.0.0.0/8, 10.0.0.0/8, 169.254.169.254) or restricted schemes.

Attack Vector

An authenticated attacker submits a crafted request to a plugin endpoint that accepts a URL parameter. The WordPress server processes the request server-side and returns portions of the response to the attacker. Full technical details are documented in the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Report.

No public proof-of-concept exploit has been published. EPSS data indicates a low near-term exploitation probability.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-53250

Indicators of Compromise

Outbound HTTP requests from the WordPress host to internal IP ranges such as 127.0.0.1, RFC1918 addresses, or 169.254.169.254
Unexpected requests originating from the PHP process to non-Chartbeat domains
Access log entries showing repeated calls to Chartbeat plugin endpoints with URL parameters containing atypical hosts or schemes

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server access logs for POST or GET requests to Chartbeat plugin routes containing URL-encoded internal addresses
Correlate WordPress authentication events with subsequent anomalous outbound connections from the host
Alert on outbound connections from web servers to cloud metadata endpoints, which no legitimate plugin should query

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable egress filtering and log all outbound HTTP requests initiated by the WordPress PHP-FPM or Apache worker processes
Monitor for HTTP requests using non-standard schemes such as file://, gopher://, or dict://
Track plugin activity from low-privileged accounts and flag deviations from baseline usage patterns

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-53250

Immediate Actions Required

Update the Chartbeat plugin to a version later than 2.0.7 once the vendor publishes a fix
If no patch is available, deactivate and remove the plugin from affected WordPress installations
Audit WordPress user accounts and remove unnecessary contributor or author-level access

Patch Information

At the time of the NVD entry, versions through 2.0.7 are affected. Refer to the Patchstack advisory for the current patch status and any vendor-released fixed version.

Workarounds

Restrict outbound network traffic from the WordPress server using host-based firewall rules that deny access to internal ranges and cloud metadata IPs
Place the WordPress instance behind a web application firewall configured to block SSRF payloads targeting the plugin's URL parameters
Enforce least-privilege access so only trusted administrators can interact with plugin configuration endpoints

bash

# Example iptables rules to block outbound access to cloud metadata and internal ranges
iptables -A OUTPUT -m owner --uid-owner www-data -d 169.254.169.254 -j DROP
iptables -A OUTPUT -m owner --uid-owner www-data -d 10.0.0.0/8 -j DROP
iptables -A OUTPUT -m owner --uid-owner www-data -d 172.16.0.0/12 -j DROP
iptables -A OUTPUT -m owner --uid-owner www-data -d 192.168.0.0/16 -j DROP