VulnerabilityPublished 24 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-8009: Security Ninja (WordPress plugin) · Absolute Path Traversal

Affects Security Ninja (WordPress plugin)Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.9 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.9Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 53% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 24 Jul 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
cleverplugins Security Ninja – WordPress Security Plugin & Firewall	Affected =5.201	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-8009, organizations should immediately upgrade the Security Ninja plugin to a patched version once available. Until a patch is released, administrators should restrict plugin access strictly to trusted users and minimize the number of users with Administrator privileges. Implementing strong authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) can reduce the risk of privilege abuse. Additionally, monitoring and auditing administrator activities can help detect suspicious behavior early. Employing web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block attempts to exploit path traversal patterns may provide temporary protection. Regularly backing up WordPress installations and server configurations ensures recovery capability in case of compromise. Finally, reviewing and hardening file permissions on the server to limit file read access can reduce the potential impact of arbitrary file read vulnerabilities.

Description

The Security Ninja – WordPress Security Plugin & Firewall plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary File Read in all versions up to, and including, 5.242 via the 'get_file_source' function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Administrator-level access and above, to extract sensitive data, including the contents of any file on the server.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2025-8009 is the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive server files, which can lead to the exposure of critical information such as database credentials, private keys, or configuration files. This breach of confidentiality can facilitate further attacks, including privilege escalation, lateral movement, or data exfiltration. Since exploitation requires Administrator-level access, the vulnerability mainly threatens environments where an attacker has already compromised or gained elevated privileges, potentially amplifying the damage. Organizations relying on the Security Ninja plugin for WordPress security may face increased risk of data leakage, undermining trust and compliance with data protection regulations. The vulnerability does not affect system integrity or availability directly, but the exposure of sensitive data can have cascading effects on overall security posture. Given WordPress's widespread use globally, the vulnerability could impact a broad range of organizations, particularly those with high-value data or critical web infrastructure.

CWE-36Absolute Path Traversal (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product uses external input to construct a pathname that should be within a restricted directory, but it does not properly neutralize absolute path sequences such as "/abs/path" that can resolve to a location that is outside of that directory.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Implementation · Input Validation
Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174).
Operation · Firewall
Use an application firewall that can detect attacks against this weakness. It can be beneficial in cases in which the code cannot be fixed (because it is controlled by a third party), as an emergency prevention measure while more comprehensive software assurance measures are applied, or to provide defense in depth.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Absolute Path Traversal (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Feb 2026, 16:44 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-36

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats