Tên plugin	Truelysell Core
Type of Vulnerability	Unauthenticated Password Reset
CVE Number	CVE-2025-10742
Tính cấp bách	Phê bình
CVE Publish Date	2025-10-16
Source URL	CVE-2025-10742

URGENT: Truelysell Core (<= 1.8.6) — Unauthenticated Arbitrary User Password Change (CVE-2025-10742)

Last updated: 16 October 2025

TL;DR

• A critical Broken Authentication vulnerability (CVE-2025-10742) affects the Truelysell Core WordPress plugin versions <= 1.8.6.
• CVSS score reported: 9.8 — unauthenticated attackers may change arbitrary user passwords.
• No official vendor fix published at time of report. Immediate mitigation is required.
• This post explains risk scenarios, detection, containment, recommended mitigations (temporary code/WAF/HTACCESS), incident response, and how WP‑Firewall protects your site now.

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Why this matters (short, direct)

An unauthenticated password-change defect means an attacker who is not logged in can force a new password on any WordPress account (including administrators). Once they control an admin account they can take over the site, install backdoors, exfiltrate data, add malicious content, or pivot to other targets. Because the vulnerability is exploitable without authentication and has a high CVSS, it’s a top-priority emergency for any site using the affected plugin.

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Background — what the public advisory reports

A public disclosure (see CVE-2025-10742) identifies a Broken Authentication vulnerability in the Truelysell Core plugin for WordPress (versions <= 1.8.6). The vulnerability allows unauthenticated actors to change passwords for arbitrary users. At the time of the disclosure there is no vendor-supplied fix available.

We treat this as an active-risk vulnerability: exploitable without credentials, immediate site impact, and high likelihood of automated scanning and exploitation once publicly known.

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How an attack can play out (realistic scenarios)

Although exploit details vary, attackers typically follow these steps:

1. Discover target sites running the vulnerable plugin (automated scanners / botnets).
2. Send specially-crafted HTTP requests to plugin endpoints that handle password resets or profile updates, exploiting the lack of proper authentication/authorization checks.
3. The plugin accepts the request and updates the targeted user’s password.
4. Attacker logs into WordPress with the new password. If the admin account is compromised, the attacker installs backdoors, creates new admin users, or steals data.
5. Post-compromise actions may include defacement, SEO spam, credential harvesting, and lateral movement.

Real-world consequence: automated mass exploitation campaigns can take over thousands of sites in hours when a weaponized exploit appears.

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Immediate actions for every site owner (ordered by priority)

1. Identify affected sites
   • Search your site’s installed plugins and versions. If you have Truelysell Core and version <= 1.8.6, assume vulnerable.
   • If you manage multiple sites, run inventory via your management tool or WP‑CLI.
2. Containment (do this now if you cannot immediately patch)
   • Temporarily deactivate the Truelysell Core plugin.
   • If deactivation triggers features you rely on, place the site into maintenance mode and restrict access to known IPs while you respond.
3. Reset credentials and rotate keys
   • For all administrator accounts, reset passwords to a strong new password.
   • Rotate any API keys or external credentials that may have been stored on the site.
   • Force password resets for all users with elevated roles if feasible.
4. Enable 2‑factor authentication for admin users immediately (if you have it available).
5. Check for signs of compromise
   • Review access logs for suspicious POST requests to plugin endpoints or unexpected password change activity.
   • Check for newly created admin users, plugin/theme file modifications, unknown scheduled tasks (cron), and recent changes in wp_options and wp_users tables.
   • Run a full malware scan and integrity check (file changes, unknown files).
6. Enable a WAF or virtual patching rule (see later section for specifics). If you already use WP‑Firewall, enable emergency protection rules we supply for this CVE.
7. Do not restore to production from an unknown backup. If compromise is suspected, consult a trusted incident response process.

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Short-term mitigations you can apply now (no code editing required)

• Deactivate the affected plugin (Admin > Plugins). If you cannot access WP admin, rename the plugin folder via SFTP/SSH to force deactivation.
• Block suspicious endpoints with webserver rules (example below).
• Rate-limit and block suspicious IP addresses and geographies where you see attack traffic.
• Restrict access to WordPress admin (/wp-admin) and login (/wp-login.php) to trusted IPs if possible.

Example .htaccess (Apache) snippet to limit POSTs to a plugin endpoint:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} POST
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} /wp-content/plugins/truelysell-core/ [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>

Note: tailor the REQUEST_URI to the endpoint identified in your logs. Test carefully on staging before applying to production.

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Virtual patching with WAF rules (recommended if no vendor patch exists)

If an official plugin update is not yet available, a properly configured Web Application Firewall (WAF) can block exploit attempts. Below are example concepts and a sample signature-like rule that a WAF admin or hosting provider can translate to their firewall technology (ModSecurity, NGINX, Cloud WAF UI, or WP‑Firewall rule engine).

Key blocking strategies:

• Block POST requests to the plugin’s specific AJAX/REST/endpoint unless they include a valid WordPress nonce or originate from authenticated sessions.
• Reject requests that attempt to change user data without authentication or without a valid referer header from your domain.
• Rate-limit repeated requests that target user IDs or emails.

Example ModSecurity-like rule (conceptual):

# Block unauthenticated POST requests to Truelysell password change endpoint
SecRule REQUEST_METHOD "POST" "chain,deny,status:403,msg:'Block unauthenticated Truelysell password change attempts',id:1001001,phase:2,t:none"
    SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains /wp-content/plugins/truelysell-core/" "chain"
    SecRule &REQUEST_HEADERS:Cookie "@eq 0" "chain"
    SecRule REQUEST_BODY "@rx (password|user_pass|new_password|reset_password)" "t:none"

Important: Fine tune these rules with the exact endpoint path and payload patterns observed in your logs to avoid blocking legitimate traffic.

If you are a WP‑Firewall user, enable our emergency protection package for this CVE and we will apply virtual patching signatures automatically across protected sites.

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Quick developer-level temporary fix (for advanced users)

If you can safely edit site PHP and you have developer resources, add a temporary early exit to any plugin file that processes the problematic password change. This is risky if done incorrectly — test in staging first and retain a full backup.

Example (conceptual) — insert high-level guard at top of the plugin’s endpoint handler:

<?php
// VERY IMPORTANT: Back up file before editing. Only use as emergency.
if ( $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST' ) {
    // Block unauthenticated requests to this script
    if ( !is_user_logged_in() ) {
        header( 'HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden' );
        exit;
    }
}
?>

This prevents unauthenticated HTTP POST calls from reaching the password-change logic. Do not leave this in place permanently; get the official patch when available.

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Detection: what to look for in logs and database

Indicators of exploitation:

• POST requests to plugin endpoints coming from sources not logged-in (missing cookies) or coming from foreign user agents.
• Unexpected password changes in wp_users (compare hashes with recent backups).
• New admin users, or admin email addresses changed.
• Modified plugin/theme files (new files in wp-content/uploads with PHP code, modified plugin main files).
• Suspicious scheduled tasks — list with danh sách sự kiện wp cron.

Useful WP‑CLI commands:

wp user list --fields=ID,user_login,user_email,roles
wp user update admin --user_pass='NewStrongPassword123!'
find /path/to/wordpress -type f -mtime -7 -print

Dump recent DB changes (if you have a logging plugin or DB audit plugin). If not, compare current DB to a known-good backup.

Search web access logs for suspicious requests:

• Look for POSTs to plugin directories
• Requests that include “password”, “reset”, “user_pass”, or user IDs in the payload
• Unusually frequent requests from the same IP range within short windows

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Incident response and containment checklist (detailed)

1. Isolate
   • Take site offline (maintenance mode) if a confirmed compromise is suspected.
2. Preserve
   • Make a full backup (files + DB) for forensics before further changes.
   • Export web server logs and database server logs.
3. Contain
   • Disable or remove the vulnerable plugin.
   • Rotate credentials: WP admin passwords, database credentials, API keys.
   • Invalidate sessions: delete session tokens in usermeta (if stored) or use a plugin to log all users out.
4. Nhận dạng
   • Search for persistence: unknown admin users, scheduled tasks (wp_options -> cron), modified plugin files, unknown PHP files in upload directories.
   • Search for command-and-control indicators (outgoing connections to suspicious domains).
5. Eradicate
   • Remove backdoors and malicious files. If unsure, rebuild from a trusted backup and re-apply updates carefully.
   • Reinstall plugins and themes from official sources.
6. Recover
   • Re-enable site with restrictions.
   • Monitor logs for recurrent attack patterns.
7. Post‑incident hardening
   • Enroll in a managed WAF/virtual patching solution (WP‑Firewall provides such options).
   • Implement stronger vulnerability management and patching cadence.

If you are unsure about the depth of compromise, engage a professional incident response service.

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Longer-term remediation and prevention strategies

• Keep plugins/themes/WordPress core updated. Automate updates where practical but test critical updates on staging first.
• Use a managed WAF that provides virtual patching and signature updates for newly discovered vulnerabilities.
• Enforce least privilege: only give admin privilege where required. Use dedicated accounts for daily use with limited capabilities.
• Implement 2FA for administrator accounts.
• Maintain a tested, versioned backup strategy with offsite copies.
• Implement file integrity monitoring to detect unauthorized changes.
• Use strong passwords and a credential vault for shared secrets.
• Harden the server: minimize attack surface, restrict PHP execution in uploads, enforce secure file permissions.

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How WP‑Firewall helps in incidents like this

We built WP‑Firewall to protect WordPress sites proactively and reactively. Our layers of defense are tuned for real-world plugin vulnerabilities that may not have an immediate vendor fix.

What WP‑Firewall provides:

• Managed firewall with automated signature rollouts, including emergency virtual patches for new, high-risk CVEs.
• Custom WAF rules that block unauthenticated attempts to access plugin endpoints known to be targeted by active exploits.
• Malware scanner and monitoring that detects file changes, suspicious admin/user creation, and known malware patterns.
• Incident alerts and remediation guidance designed for non-technical site owners and for technical teams.
• Unlimited bandwidth protection — so the firewall can mitigate large attack spikes without degrading your site.

If you are already protected by WP‑Firewall, our emergency rule set for this vulnerability will block the exploit traffic automatically while we continue monitoring for changes and a vendor patch.

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Practical WAF rule examples — translate for your platform

Note: Below are conceptual patterns you (or your host/WAF provider) can implement. Always test on staging.

1. Block unauthenticated calls:
   • Condition: HTTP method is POST and URI contains the plugin path.
   • Action: Deny unless a valid WP nonce is present (check for _wpnonce in POST and validate).
2. Block suspicious POST payloads:
   • Condition: Request body contains “user_pass” or “new_password” for endpoints that should not accept it anonymously.
   • Action: Deny.
3. Rate-limit brute-force patterns:
   • Condition: > X POSTs per minute from same IP to the plugin endpoint.
   • Action: Throttle / block.
4. Reject requests without a valid Referer header for admin-level actions:
   • Condition: Request to admin-ajax.php or REST endpoint lacks a referer from your domain for non-JSON public endpoints.
   • Action: Deny.

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Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) to scan for immediately

• New entries in wp_người dùng with high-privilege roles you didn’t create.
• Unexpected changes to wp_tùy_chọn (e.g., siteurl, home) or active_plugins option containing unfamiliar plugins.
• Suspicious PHP files in /wp-content/tải lên/ or hidden directories.
• Outbound connections from PHP processes to unknown servers (check server logs / netstat).
• Unusual spikes in CPU or memory use corresponding to web traffic spikes.

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Recovery example timeline for a single compromised site

Day 0 (disclosure day)

• Identify whether site uses plugin <=1.8.6. If yes, immediately deactivate plugin and enable WAF rule. Rotate admin passwords.

Day 1

• Full backup for forensics. Scan files and DB for indicators. Remove unknown admin users. Reinstall clean copies of plugins from official packages.

Day 2–3

• Harden accounts: enable 2FA, enforce strong passwords, restore from a clean backup if available. Monitor traffic.

Day 7–14

• Conduct post‑recovery audit. Confirm no persistence. Re-enable plugin only if patched by vendor; if vendor patch is not yet available, keep plugin disabled and rely on WP‑Firewall protections.

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Post-mortem and continuous improvement

After containment and recovery:

• Document how the vulnerability was found and the steps taken.
• Review patching processes and inventory management for plugin versions across your sites.
• Consider policies such as:
  • Automated vulnerability scanning once per week.
  • Centralized logging/alerting for user changes and file integrity alerts.
  • Annual or bi-annual security audits.

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• Basic (Free): Essential protection — managed firewall, unlimited bandwidth, WAF, malware scanner, mitigation for OWASP Top 10 risks.
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Final recommendations (practical, prioritized)

1. If you run Truelysell Core and version <= 1.8.6 — treat the vulnerability as active and urgent.
2. Deactivate the plugin immediately if you cannot apply a vendor patch.
3. Rotate administrator passwords and enforce 2FA.
4. Enable a WAF and apply virtual patching rules to block unauthenticated requests targeting the plugin.
5. Follow the incident response checklist if you suspect compromise.
6. Enroll in a managed protection service that offers emergency virtual patching to reduce the risk window.

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Closing note from WP‑Firewall

We understand how disruptive sudden, high‑severity vulnerabilities are for site owners and operators. Our team monitors disclosures closely and creates emergency protections to keep sites safe while vendors prepare fixes. If you would like help assessing risk across multiple sites, applying emergency rules, or performing a forensic check for signs of compromise, our team is ready to assist.

Protect your site now: https://my.wp-firewall.com/buy/wp-firewall-free-plan/

Hãy giữ an toàn,
The WP‑Firewall Security Team