CVE-2025-7640 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting the hiWeb Export Posts WordPress plugin developed by den-media, present in all versions up to and including 0.9.0.0. The vulnerability is classified as CWE-22, indicating improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory, commonly known as a path traversal flaw. The root cause is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability due to missing or incorrect nonce validation in the tool-dashboard-history.php file. This flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to craft malicious requests that, when executed by an authenticated administrator (via social engineering such as clicking a link), can delete arbitrary files on the server. The deletion of critical files like wp-config.php can lead to remote code execution, severely compromising the integrity and availability of the WordPress site. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 8.1, reflecting the network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, but requiring user interaction (UI:R). The impact includes high integrity and availability damage, although confidentiality is not directly affected. No known exploits are currently in the wild, and no official patches have been released yet. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it leverages a combination of path traversal and CSRF, enabling attackers to bypass authentication and authorization mechanisms indirectly by exploiting administrator actions. This makes it a critical threat to WordPress sites using this plugin, especially those with high administrative activity and exposure to untrusted users or external links.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to websites running WordPress with the hiWeb Export Posts plugin. The ability to delete arbitrary files can disrupt business operations by causing site downtime or defacement, impacting availability and integrity of web services. Remote code execution potential further escalates the threat, enabling attackers to gain persistent control over web servers, potentially leading to data breaches, lateral movement within networks, or deployment of malware such as ransomware. Organizations in sectors relying heavily on web presence—such as e-commerce, media, government portals, and SMEs—are particularly vulnerable. The exploitation requires tricking an administrator, so organizations with less stringent user security awareness or lacking multi-factor authentication for admin accounts are at higher risk. Additionally, the lack of a patch means organizations must rely on mitigation strategies until an update is available, increasing exposure time. Given the widespread use of WordPress in Europe, the impact could be broad, affecting both private and public sector entities.

Immediate mitigation should focus on minimizing the risk of CSRF exploitation and limiting the plugin's exposure. Specific recommendations include: 1) Restrict access to the tool-dashboard-history.php file via web server configuration (e.g., .htaccess rules or equivalent) to allow only trusted IP addresses or authenticated users. 2) Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious requests targeting the vulnerable endpoint, especially those lacking valid nonce tokens or originating from external referrers. 3) Educate administrators about the risk of clicking on unsolicited links and encourage the use of multi-factor authentication to reduce the risk of compromised admin sessions. 4) Temporarily disable or remove the hiWeb Export Posts plugin if it is not essential, or replace it with alternative plugins that do not have this vulnerability. 5) Monitor server logs for unusual file deletion attempts or unexpected requests to the vulnerable script. 6) Prepare for patch deployment by tracking vendor updates closely and testing patches in staging environments before production rollout. These measures go beyond generic advice by focusing on access control, user behavior, and proactive monitoring tailored to the specific vulnerability characteristics.