CVE Alert: CVE-2025-11452 – asgaros – Asgaros Forum

Risk verdict

High risk due to unauthenticated SQL injection via a cookie, with potential data leakage; exploitation state is not confirmed.

Why this matters

An attacker can read sensitive database contents without credentials, potentially exposing users, configurations, and other confidential data. For organisations with regulated data, this increases breach risk, data-centric attack surface, and remediation costs, especially if the plugin remains in production.

Most likely attack path

An attacker sends requests to the forum feature with a malicious cookie value. No privileges or user interaction are required (PR:N, UI:N), and network access is sufficient (AV:N, S:U). The flaw allows additional SQL to be appended, enabling data exfiltration but not necessarily privilege escalation or persistence.

Who is most exposed

Sites hosting self-managed WordPress instances using this legacy plugin, especially on shared hosting or poorly monitored deployments, are most at risk. Environments with stored user data and backup schemas are particularly sensitive.

Detection ideas

• Unusual cookie values in requests correlating with database error or data output anomalies.
• Logs showing SQL errors or unexpected query patterns tied to the asgarosforum_unread_exclude cookie.
• Elevated volumes of unauthenticated requests from diverse sources targeting the forum endpoints.
• Anomalous data exfiltration indicators (unexpected large reads) from the database.
• WAF/IDS alerts for SQL injection signatures in cookie-handling code paths.

Mitigation and prioritisation

• Patch to the latest non-vulnerable release or disable the plugin if patches are unavailable.
• Implement a WAF rule to block SQL injection attempts via cookie data; tighten input handling server-side.
• Review and harden WordPress database credentials and permissions (least privilege).
• Audit and rotate cookies used in server-side queries; remove direct script reliance on client-controlled cookies.
• Plan a change window, test in staging, and monitor logs post-deployment; consider disabling the plugin until verified.