CVE-2025-57942: Emergency Password Reset CSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2025-57942 Overview

CVE-2025-57942 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Emergency Password Reset WordPress plugin developed by andy_moyle. The flaw affects all versions of the plugin up to and including 9.3. Attackers can trick authenticated users into performing unintended state-changing actions by leveraging missing anti-CSRF token validation. The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-352 and requires user interaction to succeed.

Critical Impact
A successful CSRF attack against an authenticated administrator can trigger emergency password reset operations, degrading account integrity across the affected WordPress site.

Affected Products

Emergency Password Reset WordPress plugin (emergency-password-reset)
All plugin versions from initial release through 9.3
WordPress sites running the vulnerable plugin with authenticated administrator sessions

Discovery Timeline

2025-09-22 - CVE-2025-57942 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-57942

Vulnerability Analysis

The Emergency Password Reset plugin exposes administrative actions that lack proper Cross-Site Request Forgery protection. WordPress provides nonce APIs such as wp_nonce_field() and check_admin_referer() to bind sensitive requests to an authenticated user session. When these controls are missing, attackers can craft external pages that submit forged requests through the victim's browser.

The vulnerability requires the victim to be authenticated to the target WordPress site and to interact with attacker-controlled content, such as clicking a link or visiting a malicious page. Because the plugin's endpoints accept requests without validating a nonce, the browser's stored session cookies are enough to authorize the state change. The impact is limited to integrity effects — no confidentiality or availability impact is reported.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or insufficient CSRF token validation on plugin actions that modify server state. Under CWE-352, the application does not verify that a request originated from an intended source. This allows any authenticated request initiated by a victim's browser to be treated as legitimate by the plugin's request handler.

Attack Vector

An attacker hosts a malicious page containing an auto-submitting form or hidden request that targets the vulnerable plugin endpoint. When an authenticated WordPress administrator visits the page, the browser attaches valid session cookies to the outbound request. The plugin processes the emergency password reset action as if it were user-initiated. Exploitation is network-based and does not require prior privileges, but does require user interaction.

Refer to the Patchstack CSRF Vulnerability Report for additional technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-57942

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected password reset events in the WordPress wp_users audit trail or activity logs
Inbound requests to the plugin's admin endpoints containing external Referer headers pointing to unaffiliated domains
Administrator sessions performing sensitive plugin actions immediately after visiting external URLs
Missing or absent _wpnonce parameter on requests targeting the Emergency Password Reset plugin

Detection Strategies

Deploy WordPress audit logging plugins to capture password reset events and correlate them with request origin data
Inspect web server access logs for POST requests to emergency-password-reset endpoints lacking valid nonce parameters
Monitor for cross-origin form submissions targeting /wp-admin/ paths from unexpected referrers
Alert on password reset operations that occur outside normal administrative workflows or maintenance windows

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable verbose logging in web application firewalls to capture request headers, referrers, and CSRF token presence for WordPress admin traffic
Track authentication and account modification events using centralized SIEM correlation rules
Establish baseline behavior for administrator activity to identify anomalous state-change requests

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-57942

Immediate Actions Required

Identify all WordPress installations running the Emergency Password Reset plugin at version 9.3 or earlier
Deactivate the plugin until a vendor-supplied patched version is confirmed available and installed
Force password rotation for administrator accounts if suspicious reset activity is observed in logs
Restrict administrator browsing habits by requiring dedicated admin browser profiles or sessions

Patch Information

At the time of NVD publication, the vendor advisory tracked by Patchstack lists affected versions from n/a through 9.3. Administrators should consult the Patchstack CSRF Vulnerability Report for the latest fixed version status and upgrade to any release beyond 9.3 once published.

Workarounds

Deactivate and remove the emergency-password-reset plugin until a patched version is verified
Deploy a web application firewall rule that enforces Referer and Origin header validation for WordPress admin POST requests
Restrict access to /wp-admin/ paths using IP allowlisting for administrative users
Enforce short administrator session lifetimes and require re-authentication for sensitive actions

bash

# Example WAF rule concept: block admin POSTs without same-origin referrer
# ModSecurity-style pseudo-rule
SecRule REQUEST_METHOD "@streq POST" \
  "chain,deny,status:403,id:1057942,msg:'CSRF: cross-origin admin POST blocked'"
  SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains /wp-admin/" "chain"
    SecRule REQUEST_HEADERS:Referer "!@beginsWith https://your-wordpress-domain.example/"