CVE-2025-1306

High

Published: 04 March 2025

Published

04 March 2025

Modified

05 March 2025

KEV Added

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Patch

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CVSS Score 8.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Score 0.0119 79.0th percentile

Risk Priority 18 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-1306 is a high-severity CSRF (CWE-352) vulnerability in Spicethemes Newscrunch. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 21.0% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).

Threat & Defense at a Glance

What attackers do: exploitation maps to Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) and 2 other techniques. What defenders deploy: see the NIST 800-53 controls recommended below.

Threat & Defense Details

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

prevent

Requires validation of inputs such as nonces to block forged CSRF requests targeting the newscrunch_install_and_activate_plugin() function.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match

prevent

Mandates timely identification, reporting, and correction of flaws like the missing nonce validation in Newscrunch theme versions up to 1.8.4.

SC-23 Session Authenticity partial match

prevent

Protects communications session authenticity to mitigate CSRF exploitation via forged requests tricking administrators into arbitrary file uploads.

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

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.

attack.mitre.org →

T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer Command And Control

Adversaries may transfer tools or other files from an external system into a compromised environment.

attack.mitre.org →

T1204.001 Malicious Link Execution

An adversary may rely upon a user clicking a malicious link in order to gain execution.

attack.mitre.org →

Why these techniques?

CSRF vuln in public-facing WordPress theme enables exploitation of web app (T1190) and arbitrary file upload (T1105) via malicious link to admin (T1204.001).

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

NVD Description

The Newscrunch theme for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in all versions up to, and including, 1.8.4. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the newscrunch_install_and_activate_plugin() function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to…

upload arbitrary files via a forged request granted they can trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.

Deeper analysisAI

CVE-2025-1306, published on 2025-03-04, is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability classified under CWE-352, affecting the Newscrunch theme for WordPress in all versions up to and including 1.8.4. The flaw arises from missing or incorrect nonce validation in the newscrunch_install_and_activate_plugin() function, enabling unauthenticated attackers to upload arbitrary files through a forged request if they can deceive a site administrator.

Attackers require no privileges (PR:N) and can exploit this over the network (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L), but it depends on user interaction such as an administrator clicking a malicious link (UI:R). Successful exploitation grants high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H), yielding a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 in an unchanged scope (S:U), potentially allowing full file upload capabilities on the targeted WordPress site.

Advisories from Wordfence and the WordPress theme trac repository, including functions.php at line 486 and changeset 261789 for the Newscrunch theme, provide details on the vulnerability and associated fixes.