A significant security flaw has been identified in the widely-used Motors WordPress theme, placing approximately 22,000 websites at substantial risk. This critical vulnerability, designated as CVE-2025-4322, allows unauthenticated attackers to escalate privileges and gain administrative control over affected sites. The flaw has been assigned a CVSS score of 9.8, indicating its severity.
Understanding CVE-2025-4322
The root of this vulnerability lies in the password recovery functionality of the Motors theme. Specifically, the `password-recovery.php` template file fails to implement adequate authentication checks during password reset processes. This oversight enables attackers to reset passwords for any user account, including those with administrative privileges, without proper authorization.
The issue arises from insufficient validation within the password recovery mechanism. While the function checks that the `hash_check` parameter is not empty, it does not prevent password updates when the hash is empty. Attackers can exploit this by supplying an invalid UTF-8 character, which gets stripped through the `esc_attr()` function. This manipulation allows them to bypass the `!empty($_GET[‘hash_check’])` check and reset passwords without authorization.
Discovery and Disclosure
Security researcher Friderika Baranyai, known as Foxyyy, discovered this vulnerability and responsibly reported it through the Wordfence Bug Bounty Program. For this critical finding, Baranyai was awarded a bounty exceeding $1,000.
Potential Impact
Exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to severe consequences, including:
– Unauthorized Access: Attackers can reset passwords for any user, including administrators, granting them full control over the website.
– Malware Deployment: With administrative access, malicious actors can upload plugins or themes containing backdoors, facilitating further exploitation.
– Content Manipulation: Compromised sites may be altered to redirect visitors to malicious destinations or display unauthorized content.
– Data Breach: Sensitive user information stored within the WordPress installation could be accessed and exfiltrated.
Mitigation Measures
To protect against potential exploitation, website administrators using the Motors theme should take the following actions:
1. Immediate Update: Upgrade to version 5.6.68 or later of the Motors theme, which includes a patch addressing this vulnerability. The update was released by StylemixThemes on May 14, 2025.
2. Temporary Deactivation: If immediate updating is not feasible, consider temporarily disabling the Motors theme until the update can be applied.
3. Implement Security Measures: Utilize security plugins like Wordfence to detect and block exploitation attempts. Wordfence Premium, Care, and Response users received a firewall rule protecting against this vulnerability on May 6, 2025, with free users scheduled to receive the same protection on June 5, 2025.
Broader Implications
This incident highlights a concerning trend in WordPress security. According to Wordfence’s 2024 Annual WordPress Security Report, there was a 68% increase in disclosed vulnerabilities compared to 2023. This underscores the critical importance of maintaining updated themes and plugins, as well as implementing robust security measures to safeguard websites against emerging threats.
Conclusion
The discovery of CVE-2025-4322 in the Motors WordPress theme serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities that can exist within widely-used web components. Website administrators must remain vigilant, ensuring that all themes and plugins are regularly updated and that comprehensive security protocols are in place to protect against potential exploits.
