CVE-2025-14168 identifies a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the WP DB Booster plugin for WordPress, specifically in all versions up to and including 1.0.1. The vulnerability stems from the absence of nonce validation on the cleanup_all AJAX action endpoint. Nonces in WordPress are security tokens used to verify that requests originate from legitimate users and not from malicious third parties. Without this validation, an attacker can craft a malicious request that, when executed by an authenticated administrator (e.g., by clicking a specially crafted link), triggers the cleanup_all action. This action deletes various database records including post drafts, revisions, comments, and metadata, which compromises the integrity of the website's content management system. The vulnerability does not require the attacker to be authenticated but does require user interaction from an administrator. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.3, reflecting a medium severity level due to the limited scope of impact (integrity only), no confidentiality or availability impact, and the need for user interaction. No patches or official fixes are currently listed, and no known exploits have been reported in the wild. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-352, which covers CSRF attacks that exploit the trust a site has in a user's browser. This vulnerability can be leveraged to disrupt content management workflows and potentially cause data loss or corruption, impacting website reliability and editorial processes.

For European organizations, the primary impact of this vulnerability is the potential loss or corruption of website content and metadata managed through WordPress sites using the WP DB Booster plugin. This can disrupt business operations, especially for media companies, e-commerce platforms, and public sector websites relying on WordPress for content management. Although the vulnerability does not directly expose sensitive data or cause denial of service, the integrity loss can lead to reputational damage, operational delays, and increased recovery costs. Organizations with multiple administrators or less stringent user access controls are at higher risk. The requirement for user interaction (administrator clicking a malicious link) means that social engineering or phishing campaigns could be used to exploit this vulnerability. Given the widespread use of WordPress across Europe, especially in small to medium enterprises and public institutions, the risk is non-negligible. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate threat but does not eliminate the risk of future exploitation. Attackers targeting European entities with valuable content or political significance could leverage this vulnerability to disrupt services or manipulate published information.

1. Monitor for and apply official updates or patches from the WP DB Booster plugin vendor as soon as they become available. 2. Until patches are released, restrict administrative access to trusted personnel and minimize the number of users with high-level privileges. 3. Implement strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers and SameSite cookie attributes to reduce CSRF attack vectors. 4. Employ a Web Application Firewall (WAF) capable of detecting and blocking CSRF attempts and suspicious AJAX requests targeting the cleanup_all action. 5. Educate administrators about phishing and social engineering risks, emphasizing caution when clicking on unsolicited links. 6. Consider disabling or removing the WP DB Booster plugin if it is not essential to reduce the attack surface. 7. Regularly back up WordPress databases and content to enable quick restoration in case of data loss. 8. Use security plugins that enforce nonce validation or add additional CSRF protections on AJAX endpoints. 9. Audit and monitor logs for unusual AJAX requests or administrative actions that could indicate exploitation attempts.