CVE-2025-60227 is a path traversal vulnerability found in the WP Pipes plugin developed by ThimPress for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 1.4.3. The vulnerability arises from improper validation and limitation of user-supplied pathnames, allowing attackers to traverse directories beyond the intended restricted directory. This flaw enables remote attackers to craft specially crafted requests that manipulate file paths, thereby accessing or modifying files outside the plugin's designated directory. The vulnerability requires no authentication and no user interaction, making it exploitable over the network with low complexity. The CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.6 reflects the high impact on availability (due to potential denial of service), and moderate impact on confidentiality and integrity (due to possible unauthorized file access and modification). Although no public exploits are reported yet, the nature of the vulnerability and the widespread use of WordPress plugins make it a critical concern. The lack of available patches at the time of publication necessitates immediate attention from administrators to implement temporary mitigations and monitor for updates from ThimPress.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their WordPress-based web assets. Attackers exploiting this flaw could access sensitive configuration files, user data, or other critical files stored on the server, leading to data breaches or leakage of sensitive information. Modification of files could allow attackers to inject malicious code, potentially leading to website defacement, malware distribution, or further compromise of the hosting environment. The denial of service impact could disrupt business operations, especially for organizations relying on WordPress for customer-facing websites or internal portals. Given the plugin’s role in automating content pipes, disruption could affect content workflows and business continuity. The risk is heightened for organizations in sectors with strict data protection regulations such as GDPR, where unauthorized data access can result in regulatory penalties and reputational damage.

European organizations should immediately audit their WordPress installations to identify the presence of the WP Pipes plugin and verify the version in use. If the plugin is installed and running a vulnerable version (<=1.4.3), organizations should prioritize upgrading to a patched version once available from ThimPress. Until a patch is released, administrators should consider disabling or uninstalling the plugin to eliminate the attack surface. Implementing web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious path traversal patterns in HTTP requests can provide temporary protection. Restricting file system permissions for the web server user to limit access to sensitive directories can reduce the impact of exploitation. Regularly monitoring web server logs for anomalous access attempts and setting up alerting for unusual file access patterns is recommended. Additionally, organizations should maintain up-to-date backups of their WordPress sites and databases to enable rapid recovery in case of compromise.