Tên plugin	IDonate
Loại lỗ hổng	Account takeover
Số CVE	CVE-2025-4519
Tính cấp bách	Cao
Ngày xuất bản CVE	2025-11-06
URL nguồn	CVE-2025-4519

Critical Privilege Escalation in IDonate (v2.1.5–2.1.9): What Site Owners Must Do Now

Tác giả: Nhóm bảo mật WP‑Firewall
Ngày: 2025-11-07
Thẻ: WordPress, Vulnerability, WAF, Incident Response, Plugin Security

Bản tóm tắt

A high‑severity vulnerability affecting the IDonate WordPress plugin (versions 2.1.5 through 2.1.9) allows an authenticated low‑privileged user (subscriber) to escalate privileges via improper authorization checks in the plugin’s donor password functionality (reported CVE‑2025‑4519). The issue was fixed in version 2.1.10.

If your site has this plugin and any authenticated users beyond anonymous visitors — especially subscribers — you should assume risk and take immediate protective actions. This post explains what the vulnerability is, why it’s dangerous, safe steps you should take right now, detection and recovery advice, and long‑term hardening measures. It also explains how an application firewall and virtual patching provide immediate protection while you test and deploy updates.

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What happened (plain English)

The IDonate plugin exposes a function that lets visitors or logged‑in users manage donor passwords. The implementation lacked proper authorization checks: the plugin verified that the incoming request was from an authenticated user, but it did not verify that the authenticated user had the right to change the targeted donor’s password. This missing authorization allows a malicious authenticated account (for example, a subscriber) to submit a request that changes the password for another donor account — including accounts that have higher privileges — enabling takeover or privilege escalation.

Because many WordPress sites allow at least one low‑privilege account (subscribers, supporters, donors, etc.), this flaw can be weaponized to escalate privilege, create backdoors, or take full control of a site.

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Affected versions and timeline

• Affected plugin: IDonate
• Các phiên bản dễ bị tấn công: 2.1.5 – 2.1.9
• Đã sửa trong: 2.1.10
• CVE: CVE‑2025‑4519
• Reported: November 2025
• Impact: Privilege escalation / account takeover from authenticated low‑privilege accounts

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Why this is high severity

• Requires only a low‑privileged authenticated account (Subscriber).
• Can lead to account takeover of admin or privileged donors.
• Once privilege escalation succeeds, attacker can install malware, create admin users, exfiltrate data, change content, or pivot to the hosting account.
• Such vulnerabilities are often targeted by automated attacks because the attacker only needs to find sites with the vulnerable plugin and any registered subscriber account.

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High‑level technical explanation (safe, non‑exploitative)

At a high level, the vulnerable flow looks like this:

1. The plugin exposes an endpoint or AJAX handler that accepts donor ID and a new password.
2. The handler checks that the request comes from an authenticated user, but it does not check that the authenticated user owns or is authorized to modify the specified donor account.
3. The handler updates the donor’s password in the database without ensuring the caller has permission to do so.

Safe, remedial coding practice would require the handler to enforce capability checks such as:

• current_user_can( ‘edit_user’, $donor_id ) or
• verifying that the current user ID equals the donor ID for self‑service password changes.

If the plugin updates a WordPress user password, the handler must use WordPress core functions and verify capabilities; if it keeps a separate donor table, the same ownership checks are required.

We will avoid publishing any exploit patterns or step‑by‑step instructions that would enable misuse. The purpose here is to explain impact, detection, and mitigation.

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Immediate actions you must take (ordered)

1. Upgrade to IDonate 2.1.10 immediately.
   The vendor released a fix in 2.1.10. Update the plugin on all affected sites as soon as you can in a maintenance window.
2. If you cannot update immediately — apply virtual patching / block the endpoint.
   Put a rule in your application firewall (WAF) to block requests to the plugin endpoints that handle donor password updates. More on recommended WAF rules below.
3. Force password resets for high‑privilege users and audit user accounts.
   Reset passwords (and expire sessions) for all administrators, editors, and donor accounts with elevated permissions.
   Look for new admin users created recently and remove unauthorized accounts.
4. Audit logs for suspicious activity.
   Search web server and WordPress logs for unusual POST requests to plugin endpoints and for logins from unusual IPs.
   Look for sudden changes to user passwords or profile updates around the vulnerability disclosure date.
5. Scan for indicators of compromise.
   Run a full site malware scan and search for modified files, new PHP files in uploads, scheduled tasks (cron entries), and suspicious outbound connections.
   If you find evidence of compromise, follow incident response steps described below.
6. Harden accounts and session handling.
   Enforce stronger passwords, implement two‑factor authentication for privileged users, and consider restricting registration or requiring approval for new users.
7. Back up before and after remediation.
   Make a full site and database backup before applying changes, and then another known‑good backup after remediation.

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Safe detection checklist

Look for these signs; none of these are definitive proof of exploitation but they are suspicious:

• POST requests to plugin endpoints that mention “donor”, “password”, “idonate”, or similar around the disclosure date.
• Multiple password change requests targeting different user IDs from the same authenticated user.
• New admin users created shortly before or after suspicious password updates.
• Changes to critical files: wp-config.php, active theme files, plugin files, or unexpected PHP in uploads.
• Unexpected outbound connections from PHP processes (check firewall or host logs).
• Resets or lockouts: previously valid admin credentials no longer working.

Tools: use centralized logs (server access logs, WordPress activity logs), database audit queries, and a file integrity monitoring tool.

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Recommended WAF / virtual patching rules (conceptual, safe)

If you cannot patch immediately, apply virtual patching rules at the WAF level. Below are safe, conceptual rules that your firewall administrator can implement — do not copy any exploit code.

• Block or rate‑limit POST requests to paths used by the plugin’s donor password functionality. Example patterns that your WAF engineer can safely inspect:
  • URLs containing /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with actions referencing donor password update functions.
  • Plugin endpoint paths such as /wp-content/plugins/idonate/... where the password change handler is located.
• Require a valid WordPress nonce for requests that perform account or password updates. Block requests missing the correct nonce parameter or with invalid nonce values.
• Enforce same‑origin checks and block cross‑site request forgery (CSRF) attempts to the donor password endpoint.
• Restrict password change requests to users that own the target account:
  • If the plugin uses an nhận dạng parameter, prevent authenticated users from changing other users’ passwords by inspecting whether the authenticated user’s ID matches the target ID. If not possible at WAF level, block the endpoint until you can apply a proper patch.
• Rate limit authenticated users to prevent automated exploitation attempts from a single low‑privileged account.

Quan trọng: WAF rules should be tested in monitoring mode before full enforcement to avoid breaking normal site operations.

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Incident response — if you suspect exploitation

If you find evidence that an account takeover happened, follow these steps:

1. Isolate the site: consider taking the site offline (maintenance mode) while you investigate.
2. Preserve logs and backups: make an offline copy of logs and backups for forensic review.
3. Reset credentials:
   • Force a password reset for all privileged accounts.
   • Reset salts and keys in wp-config.php (AUTH_KEY, SECURE_AUTH_KEY, etc.) to invalidate active cookies and sessions.
4. Remove unknown admin users and any suspicious code or files.
5. Restore from a known‑good backup if the filesystem shows signs of tampering and you cannot fully remove malicious artifacts.
6. Reinstall WordPress core and all plugins and themes from known sources.
7. Perform a malware scan and have your host perform server‑side checks for root compromise if you find persistent backdoors.
8. Review webserver configuration and SFTP/hosting access logs for suspicious behavior.
9. Monitor carefully for re‑infection and consider professional incident response if the compromise is extensive.

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Long‑term mitigations and hardening

• Minimize the number of privileged users. Do not use admin accounts for day‑to‑day tasks.
• Enable two‑factor authentication for all administrators and anyone with elevated privileges.
• Use strict role management: avoid giving editor or contributor roles more capabilities than required.
• Keep themes, plugins, and core up to date — establish a maintenance schedule.
• Use a WAF with virtual patching capabilities so new plugin issues can be mitigated immediately.
• Harden logins:
  • Limit login attempts and block suspicious IPs.
  • Force strong password policies.
  • Disable XML‑RPC or protect it if not used.
• Implement file integrity monitoring and regular malware scans.
• Regular backups with offsite retention and automated restore testing.

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How to audit your site for this specific issue (safe approach)

• Confirm plugin version: In WordPress admin → Plugins, check IDonate version. If between 2.1.5 and 2.1.9 — treat the site as vulnerable.
• Inspect access logs: look for POSTs to the plugin’s endpoints or to admin‑ajax.php with suspicious action names or parameters.
• Use activity logs: if you have a WordPress activity logging plugin enabled, review recent user password updates or profile edits.
• Verify user list: look for any unexpected users with elevated permissions; review the “Last Updated” and “Registered” dates.
• Check recent database changes: look for unexpected updates in the users table or plugin tables using timestamps around the vulnerability window.

If you find no concerning signs, patch and keep monitoring. If you find suspicious actions, proceed with the incident response steps above.

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Why a WAF and virtual patching help (and how WP‑Firewall approaches this)

A vulnerability that allows privilege escalation is time‑sensitive because attackers often automate exploitation. Installing a vendor patch is the only complete fix, but when a patch is not yet possible (staged releases, testing, scheduled maintenance), an application firewall providing virtual patching buys you protection immediately.

What virtual patching does for you:

• Blocks exploit attempts at the perimeter before they reach vulnerable code.
• Applies rules that prevent the misuse of vulnerable endpoints (for instance, blocking password reset requests that are not authorized).
• Provides monitoring and alerting so you can see exploitation attempts and respond proactively.

WP‑Firewall delivers managed WAF rules and virtual patching tailored to WordPress plugins and common CMS attack vectors. If you need fast mitigation while you update plugins and conduct a thorough audit, a firewall with virtual patching is a safe way to reduce exposure and prevent automated mass exploitation.

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Secure development takeaways for plugin authors (brief)

• Never assume authentication implies authorization. Always check that the current user has the right to act on the resource.
• Use WordPress capability APIs: current_user_can( ‘edit_user’, $user_id ) or a capability appropriate to the action.
• For user self‑service actions, confirm that the owner is performing the action or that the caller has an admin capability.
• Protect state‑changing requests with nonces and verify them server‑side.
• Limit sensitive actions to POST requests and implement same‑origin checks (referer or custom headers can help but are not substitutes for nonces and capabilities).
• Use prepared statements and core APIs for database writes to prevent data corruption and injection issues.
• Add automated tests for authorization logic (unit and integration tests).

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Detection rules and sample logs (for ops teams) — what to look for

Below are safe, non‑exploitative patterns security teams commonly use to hunt for suspicious activity related to this class of bug:

• Web server access logs: look for POST requests to plugin script paths with parameters like donor_id, mật khẩu, new_pass, hoặc action=idonate_....
• admin‑ajax activity: repeated admin‑ajax.php POSTs with unknown actions coming from low‑privilege user sessions.
• Multiple password changes from the same subscriber account targeting other user IDs.
• Sudden creation of an admin user shortly after suspicious POST requests.
• Unusual user agent strings combined with POST requests to plugin endpoints.

If you have SIEM, create alerts on these patterns and feed them into your incident response process.

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Recovery checklist (concise)

• Upgrade plugin to 2.1.10.
• Reset privileged user passwords and invalidate sessions (change salts).
• Review admin user list and remove unknown accounts.
• Scan for malicious files and suspicious cron jobs.
• Restore from a clean backup if necessary.
• Harden site and enable 2FA.
• Enable monitoring and WAF virtual patching to prevent re‑exploitation.

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Final words — prioritize patching and preparedness

This IDonate vulnerability is a textbook example of “authentication without authorization” and underscores why authorization checks are just as important as authentication. For site owners: patch quickly, but also use defense‑in‑depth. Keep plugins updated, monitor activity, and use a WAF and virtual patching to reduce exposure while you test or stage changes.

If you need help evaluating whether your site is vulnerable, deploying temporary WAF rules, or recovering from a suspected compromise, WP‑Firewall’s team can assist with assessment and managed protection. Secure aggressively and keep a measured incident response plan — the time to prepare is before the attackers arrive.

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If you want a concise checklist you can copy to your operations runbook, reply to this post and we’ll provide a printable action list tailored to your hosting environment.