Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-28961

CriticalRCE

Published: 16 July 2025

Published
16 July 2025
Modified
23 April 2026
KEV Added
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Patch
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CVSS Score v3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0037 59.2th percentile
Risk Priority 20 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-28961 is a critical-severity Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 40.8% 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).

Deeper analysis

CVE-2025-28961 is a Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability (CWE-502) in the exact-links WordPress plugin, developed by Md Yeasin Ul Haider as a URL Shortener. The flaw enables Object Injection and affects all versions of the plugin from an unspecified starting point through 3.0.7. Published on 2025-07-16, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), marking it as critical due to its potential for severe impact.

Unauthenticated remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. Exploitation allows attackers to achieve high levels of impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, potentially leading to full system compromise through malicious object deserialization.

Mitigation details are available in the Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/exact-links/vulnerability/wordpress-url-shortener-3-0-7-php-object-injection-vulnerability?_s_id=cve, which covers the affected WordPress plugin vulnerability.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in Md Yeasin Ul Haider URL Shortener exact-links allows Object Injection.This issue affects URL Shortener: from n/a through <= 3.0.7.

CWE(s)
CWE-502

Related Threats

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 →
Why these techniques?

Unauthenticated remote deserialization/object injection in public-facing WordPress plugin directly enables exploitation of a public-facing application for RCE/full compromise.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v18.1

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-13770Shared CWE-502
CVE-2026-27303Shared CWE-502
CVE-2025-53586Shared CWE-502
CVE-2025-64353Shared CWE-502
CVE-2025-31047Shared CWE-502
CVE-2026-27096Shared CWE-502
CVE-2023-49886Shared CWE-502
CVE-2026-23542Shared CWE-502
CVE-2025-66631Shared CWE-502
CVE-2026-40044Shared CWE-502

Affected Assets

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Directly requires timely identification, reporting, and correction of the deserialization of untrusted data flaw (CVE-2025-28961) in the exact-links WordPress plugin through version 3.0.7.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

Mandates validation of untrusted data inputs to block object injection exploitation via unsafe deserialization in the plugin.

RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning partial match
detect

Facilitates vulnerability scanning to identify the CWE-502 deserialization vulnerability in the exact-links plugin for subsequent remediation.

References