The Recover WooCommerce Cart Abandonment, Newsletter, Email Marketing, Marketing Automation By FunnelKit is a popular plugin for WordPress users. It is primarily aimed at online businesses wanting to recover abandoned carts and drive customer engagement through newsletters and email marketing. The plugin provides a range of marketing automation features that help businesses retain customers and increase sales. It automates marketing tasks, making it easier for businesses to capture leads and send personalized communications. Managers of online stores often rely on such plugins to enhance the efficiency of their operations. By automating various marketing tasks, businesses can focus on other critical areas of their operations.
The vulnerability in this plugin relates to missing authorization checks, allowing unauthorized users to exploit its functionalities. It specifically affects the install_or_activate_addon_plugins() function, which lacks proper capability checks. This makes the plugin susceptible to unauthorized arbitrary plugin installations, heightening potential security risks. Attackers can take advantage of this vulnerability to install unwanted plugins, which could further compromise the site. The absence of adequate nonce security exacerbates the risk, allowing unauthorized actions to be performed. Addressing this vulnerability is crucial to ensuring the integrity and security of sites using this plugin.
The core technical issue involves the lack of proper capability checks within a specific function in the plugin. The install_or_activate_addon_plugins() function is inadequately secured, allowing non-administrative users to activate or install plugins. The weak nonce hash further complicates security, as it can be exploited to perform unauthorized actions on the site. Attackers can issue a POST request to the plugin's endpoint without authenticating, exploiting the weak nonce to manipulate functionality. This vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 3.5.3, necessitating a patch or workaround to secure affected sites. Correcting this issue involves reinforcing access control measures and improving nonce validation.
The exploitation of this vulnerability can allow attackers to compromise a site severely. Unauthorized plugin installations can lead to further infection of the site through the introduction of malicious plugins. This can cause defacement of the websites, data theft, and unauthorized access to sensitive information. The integrity and trustworthiness of the site can be jeopardized, impacting user confidence. Sites can become part of larger botnets used to conduct further attacks. Mitigating these effects requires prompt vulnerability remediation and installing security updates as they become available.
REFERENCES
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/wordpress-plugins/wp-marketing-automations/recover-woocommerce-cart-abandonment-newsletter-email-marketing-marketing-automation-by-funnelkit-353-missing-authorization-to-unauthenticated-arbitrary-plugin-installation
- https://www.wiz.io/vulnerability-database/cve/cve-2025-1562
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-1562
- Update the plugin to version 3.6.0 or later to apply the necessary security patches against unauthorized plugin installations.
- Implement strict capability checks to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive functions within the application.
- Enhance nonce validation and ensure hashes are strong and secured to deter unauthorized actions.
- Regularly audit plugins for security updates and apply updates promptly to maintain a secure environment.
- Consider employing a security plugin designed for WordPress to add an extra layer of protection against such vulnerabilities.
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