Cyber Posture

CVE-2025-2539

High

Published: 20 March 2025

Published
20 March 2025
Modified
08 April 2026
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.2072 95.6th percentile
Risk Priority 27 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Description

Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.

Security Summary

CVE-2025-2539 is a vulnerability in the File Away plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 3.9.9.0.1. It arises from a missing capability check on the ajax() function, enabling unauthorized access to data. Attackers can leverage a reversible weak algorithm to read the contents of arbitrary files on the server, potentially exposing sensitive information. The issue has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N) and is associated with CWE-327.

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely with low complexity and no user interaction required. By sending crafted requests to the vulnerable ajax() function, they bypass authorization and use the plugin's weak cryptographic mechanism to decrypt and retrieve arbitrary file contents, such as configuration files or other sensitive data stored on the web server.

Advisories, including those from Wordfence, detail the vulnerability and reference affected code in the plugin's class.fileaway_encrypted.php and class.fileaway_stats.php files. Mitigation involves updating to a patched version of the File Away plugin beyond 3.9.9.0.1, as indicated on the plugin's WordPress.org developers page. A proof-of-concept exploit is publicly available on GitHub, highlighting the need for immediate patching.

Details

CWE(s)
CWE-327

Affected Products

file away project
file away
≤ 3.9.9.0.1

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
Why these techniques?

The vulnerability is an unauthenticated arbitrary file read in a public-facing WordPress plugin, directly enabling T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application) as the attack vector and T1005 (Data from Local System) for retrieving sensitive file contents.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

References