Vulnerability Overview

• CVE ID: CVE-2025-13417
• Vulnerability Name: Plugin Organizer < 10.2.4 – Subscriber+ SQL Injection
• CVSS Score: 7.7 (HIGH)
• CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
• Severity: HIGH
• Exploitability: Low Complexity – Easily Exploitable
• Exploit Availability: Public Proof of Concept Available
• Authentication Required: Yes – Subscriber level (Low Privilege)
• Affected Product: Plugin Organizer WordPress Plugin
• Affected Versions: All versions prior to 10.2.4
• Patched Version: 10.2.4
• Active Installations: 10,000+
• Disclosure Date: December 8, 2025
• Researcher: Alex Tselevich (nos3curity)
• CWE: CWE-89 – Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in SQL Command
• OWASP Top 10: A1 – Injection

Vulnerability Description

Plugin Organizer versions prior to 10.2.4 contain a SQL injection vulnerability within the plugin search functionality. The issue exists because the plugin fails to properly sanitize and escape user-supplied input before incorporating it into SQL queries executed against the WordPress database.

The vulnerable parameter, PO_plugin_path, is processed through the PO_perform_plugin_search AJAX action. This parameter is directly concatenated into a SQL WHERE clause using LIKE statements without proper parameter binding or escaping.

As a result, authenticated users with subscriber-level privileges or higher can inject arbitrary SQL commands. Administrative privileges are not required, which significantly increases risk since subscriber accounts are often easy to obtain through open or misconfigured registration features.

The root cause is improper handling of database queries, where WordPress’s $wpdb->prepare() function is either misused or bypassed entirely for this specific parameter, leaving the query vulnerable to injection.

Impact Analysis

Confidentiality Impact: HIGH

An attacker can extract sensitive information from the WordPress database, including:

• Usernames and hashed passwords
• Email addresses and profile data
• Personally identifiable information stored in custom fields
• Business or payment-related data if e-commerce or membership plugins are installed

The changed scope (S:C) in the CVSS vector indicates that the attacker can affect resources beyond the vulnerable plugin component.

Integrity Impact: NONE (Direct) / HIGH (Indirect)

While the vulnerability itself is primarily read-oriented, stolen administrator credentials can lead to:

• Full site takeover
• Content modification
• Malicious script injection
• Installation of backdoors or additional malware

Availability Impact: NONE (Direct) / POSSIBLE (Indirect)

The flaw does not directly cause denial-of-service conditions. However, repeated heavy SQL queries or follow-on attacks using compromised credentials may degrade performance or availability.

Exploitation Methodology

An attacker would typically exploit this vulnerability using the following steps:

1. Obtain Subscriber Access
   Create a subscriber account on the target site. Many WordPress installations allow self-registration, making this trivial. Alternatively, compromise any existing low-privilege account.
2. Prepare the Environment
   The site administrator must have visited the Plugin Organizer Global Plugins page and clicked Save at least once. This initializes the required database entries targeted by the attack.
3. Authenticate and Capture Session
   Log in as the subscriber and capture session cookies. These cookies are required to send authenticated AJAX requests.
4. Craft Malicious Request
   Send a POST request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with the action PO_perform_plugin_search and a malicious PO_plugin_path value containing SQL payloads.
5. Extract Data
   Use time-based or error-based SQL injection techniques to enumerate database tables and extract sensitive information. The vulnerable code executes the payload twice, meaning a SLEEP(3) payload causes an approximate 6-second delay, confirming exploitability.

Proof of Concept (PoC)

WARNING: This proof of concept is provided for defensive and educational purposes only. Unauthorized testing against systems you do not own is illegal.

Step 1 – Authenticate as Subscriber

curl -c cookies.txt \
-d "log=subscriber" \
-d "pwd=password" \
-d "wp-submit=Log+In" \
"http://target.com/wp-login.php"

Step 2 – Execute SQL Injection

curl -b cookies.txt \
-d "action=PO_perform_plugin_search" \
-d "PO_plugin_path=a%' OR SLEEP(3) OR '1%'='1" \
"http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"

If the response takes approximately 6 seconds, the target is vulnerable. From this point, attackers can move to UNION-based or blind extraction techniques to retrieve data from tables such as wp_users.

MITRE ATT&CK Mapping

Detection Methods

Recommended Log Sources

• Web Server Access Logs: Apache access.log, Nginx access.log
• WordPress Debug Logs: wp-content/debug.log
• WAF Logs: ModSecurity, Cloudflare, Sucuri, Wordfence
• Database Logs: MySQL slow query log or general query log
• Security Plugin Logs: Wordfence, iThemes Security, All In One WP Security

Suspicious Patterns to Monitor

1. POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=PO_perform_plugin_search
2. Parameters containing SQL keywords such as SLEEP, UNION, SELECT, OR, AND
3. URL-encoded single quotes (%27) or percent symbols (%25)
4. Unusually long response times from AJAX requests
5. Repeated rapid requests from the same IP address
6. SQL-related errors appearing in PHP or database logs

Detection Rules

Splunk SPL

index=web sourcetype=access_combined 
| search uri_path="*admin-ajax.php*" 
| search (uri_query="*PO_perform_plugin_search*" OR form_data="*PO_perform_plugin_search*") 
| search (uri_query="*SLEEP*" OR uri_query="*UNION*" OR uri_query="*SELECT*" OR form_data="*SLEEP*" OR form_data="*%27*") 
| stats count by src_ip, uri_query, status 
| where count > 3

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-13417 Plugin Organizer SQL Injection Attempt
id: a1b2c3d4-5678-90ab-cdef-ghijk1234567
status: experimental
description: Detects exploitation attempts of CVE-2025-13417 in Plugin Organizer
author: SOC Team
date: 2025/12/29
logsource:
  category: webserver
  product: apache
detection:
  selection:
    cs-uri-stem|contains: 'admin-ajax.php'
    cs-uri-query|contains:
      - 'PO_perform_plugin_search'
      - 'PO_plugin_path'
  injection_patterns:
    cs-uri-query|contains:
      - 'SLEEP('
      - 'UNION'
      - 'SELECT'
      - '%27'
      - "'"
  condition: selection and injection_patterns
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate security testing
level: high
tags:
  - attack.initial_access
  - attack.t1190
  - cve.2025.13417

ModSecurity WAF Rule

SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains admin-ajax.php" \
"id:2025134170,phase:2,t:none,t:urlDecodeUni,chain,deny,status:403,log,msg:'CVE-2025-13417 SQL Injection Attempt'"
    SecRule ARGS:action "@streq PO_perform_plugin_search" "chain"
    SecRule ARGS:PO_plugin_path "@rx (?i)(union|select|sleep|benchmark|'|%27|or\s+\d|and\s+\d)"

Remediation Steps

1. Immediate Update
   Update Plugin Organizer to version 10.2.4 or later immediately. This is the only complete fix.
2. Verify Version
   Confirm the installed version in the WordPress admin panel under Plugins.
3. Audit User Accounts
   Review all subscriber accounts. Remove suspicious users and disable self-registration if not required.
4. Reset Credentials
   Reset all administrator passwords. If exploitation is suspected, also rotate database credentials.
5. Review Logs
   Search for historical exploitation attempts using the indicators described above.
6. Deploy WAF Protection
   Apply ModSecurity rules or enable managed WAF protection.
7. Enable Continuous Monitoring
   Add SIEM alerts for future exploitation attempts.

Official Patch Information

• Patched Version: 10.2.4
• Official Download:
  https://wordpress.org/plugins/plugin-organizer/

Changelog Note (10.2.4):
“Fixed possible SQL injection on the plugin search page.”

Final Takeaway

CVE-2025-13417 is a high-risk SQL injection vulnerability that allows low-privilege subscriber accounts to access WordPress databases through the Plugin Organizer plugin. Because subscriber accounts are easy to obtain, this flaw significantly increases attack exposure.

While the attack is technically simple, the impact can be severe—data leakage, credential theft, and eventual site takeover are all realistic outcomes. There is no workaround other than applying the official fix.