CVE-2025-54728 Overview
CVE-2025-54728 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the CreativeMindsSolutions CM On Demand Search And Replace WordPress plugin. The flaw affects all plugin versions from initial release through 1.5.2. An attacker can trick an authenticated user into submitting a forged request that performs unintended actions within the plugin. The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-352 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 4.3.
Critical Impact
Successful exploitation requires user interaction but can lead to unauthorized state-changing operations on the target WordPress site, including data modification through the plugin's search-and-replace functionality.
Affected Products
- CreativeMindsSolutions CM On Demand Search And Replace plugin for WordPress
- All versions up to and including 1.5.2
- WordPress installations with the vulnerable plugin activated
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-08-14 - CVE-2025-54728 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-54728
Vulnerability Analysis
The CM On Demand Search And Replace plugin performs privileged database search-and-replace operations. The plugin fails to validate the authenticity of state-changing requests. Specifically, sensitive endpoints do not verify a WordPress nonce or equivalent anti-CSRF token before processing form submissions. An attacker who lures an authenticated administrator to a malicious page can trigger requests that execute plugin actions under the victim's session.
Because the plugin runs bulk search-and-replace operations against the WordPress database, an unauthorized request can modify stored content. The scope is limited to integrity impact, with no direct confidentiality or availability consequences per the CVSS vector.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing or improperly implemented CSRF protection [CWE-352]. WordPress provides wp_nonce_field() and check_admin_referer() to prevent this class of issue, but the plugin's request handlers do not enforce nonce verification on all state-changing endpoints through version 1.5.2.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires an authenticated WordPress user, typically an administrator, to visit an attacker-controlled page while logged in. The attacker hosts a page containing hidden HTML forms or JavaScript that auto-submits a request to the vulnerable plugin endpoint. The browser attaches the victim's session cookies, and the plugin processes the request as legitimate. See the Patchstack advisory for additional technical details.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-54728
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected modifications to WordPress post content, options, or metadata performed through the plugin's search-and-replace routines.
- HTTP POST requests to plugin endpoints containing Referer headers from external domains.
- Administrator account activity in web server logs that correlates with visits to untrusted external sites.
Detection Strategies
- Review WordPress audit logs for search-and-replace operations that lack a corresponding admin session action.
- Monitor for POST requests to wp-admin plugin pages containing cross-origin Referer or Origin headers.
- Correlate database change events with plugin invocation timestamps to identify unauthorized modifications.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable a WordPress audit logging plugin to record administrative actions with source IP and referer data.
- Alert on plugin execution events triggered outside expected administrative workflows or maintenance windows.
- Track HTTP request patterns targeting the plugin's action handlers via a web application firewall.
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-54728
Immediate Actions Required
- Deactivate the CM On Demand Search And Replace plugin until a patched version above 1.5.2 is available.
- Restrict administrator sessions to trusted browsers and enforce logout after admin activity.
- Deploy a web application firewall rule that inspects Referer and Origin headers on plugin endpoints.
Patch Information
At the time of publication, no fixed version beyond 1.5.2 is referenced in the Patchstack advisory. Monitor the vendor and Patchstack for a release that adds nonce verification to the affected endpoints, and apply it as soon as it becomes available.
Workarounds
- Remove or disable the plugin on production WordPress sites until a patch is published.
- Require administrators to use separate browser profiles or dedicated browsers for WordPress administration.
- Implement SameSite=Strict cookies on the WordPress site to reduce cross-site request exposure.
- Enforce multi-factor authentication and short session lifetimes for administrator accounts to reduce the exposure window.
# Configuration example: disable the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate cm-on-demand-search-and-replace
wp plugin delete cm-on-demand-search-and-replace
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
