CVE-2025-8213 is a high-severity vulnerability classified as CWE-36 (Absolute Path Traversal) found in the NinjaScanner – Virus & Malware scan plugin for WordPress, developed by nintechnet. This vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 3.2.5 of the plugin. The root cause lies in insufficient validation of file paths within the 'nscan_ajax_quarantine' and 'nscan_quarantine_select' functions. These functions handle quarantine operations for files flagged by the malware scanner. Due to improper sanitization, an authenticated attacker with Administrator-level privileges or higher can manipulate file path inputs to delete arbitrary files on the server, including those outside the WordPress root directory. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.2, reflecting the network attack vector (remote exploitation), low attack complexity, requirement for high privileges (administrator), no user interaction, and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability poses a significant risk because it enables destructive actions such as deleting critical system or application files, potentially leading to denial of service, data loss, or further compromise of the hosting environment. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it leverages the plugin’s quarantine functionality, which inherently requires elevated privileges, thus limiting exploitation to trusted users but amplifying the damage if such users are compromised or malicious. No official patches or updates are currently linked, indicating that users must monitor vendor advisories closely for remediation.

For European organizations using WordPress websites with the NinjaScanner plugin installed, this vulnerability can have severe consequences. Exploitation could lead to deletion of critical files on web servers, causing website outages, data loss, and disruption of business operations. Given the high reliance on WordPress for corporate websites, e-commerce platforms, and internal portals, such disruptions can damage reputation and incur financial losses. Furthermore, deletion of system files could facilitate privilege escalation or persistent backdoors if attackers combine this vulnerability with other exploits. Organizations in regulated sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government may face compliance violations if sensitive data is lost or systems become unavailable. The requirement for administrator-level access reduces the risk of external attackers exploiting this directly; however, insider threats or compromised administrator accounts remain a significant concern. Additionally, the vulnerability could be leveraged in targeted attacks against European entities by adversaries aiming to disrupt services or conduct sabotage.

1. Immediate mitigation involves restricting administrator access to trusted personnel only and enforcing strong authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) to reduce the risk of credential compromise. 2. Monitor and audit administrator activities closely to detect any suspicious file deletion attempts. 3. Disable or uninstall the NinjaScanner plugin if it is not essential, or temporarily remove quarantine functionalities until a patch is available. 4. Implement file integrity monitoring on web servers to detect unauthorized file deletions or modifications promptly. 5. Maintain regular, secure backups of all critical files and databases to enable rapid recovery in case of data loss. 6. Network segmentation and least privilege principles should be applied to limit the impact of compromised administrator accounts. 7. Stay updated with vendor announcements for patches or updates addressing this vulnerability and apply them promptly once released. 8. Consider deploying Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious requests targeting the vulnerable plugin endpoints.