A significant security flaw, designated as CVE-2025-8592, has been discovered within the widely used Inspiro WordPress theme. This vulnerability, impacting more than 70,000 active installations, permits unauthorized attackers to exploit a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) flaw, which may lead to arbitrary plugin installations without user approval.
Revealed on August 20, 2025, this CSRF vulnerability is present across all versions of the Inspiro theme up to and including 2.1.2. A report from Wordfence, a prominent WordPress security firm, attributes the source of this vulnerability to inadequate nonce verification within the inspiro_install_plugin() function.
Understanding CVE-2025-8592 Vulnerability
The absence of appropriate security validation creates an avenue for CSRF attacks, where an assailant can manipulate the session of a logged-in administrator by deceiving them into clicking a harmful link. When the administrator engages with this malicious link, their authenticated session could be hijacked to install undesired plugins from the WordPress repository, unbeknownst to them.
This vulnerability has received a CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) base score of 8.1 (High), characterized by the vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H. This score highlights the fact that exploitation can occur over a network, necessitates minimal attack complexity, does not require prior authentication, and can compromise the integrity and availability of the affected site.
Expert Perspectives
Dmitrii Ignatyev from CleanTalk Inc., the researcher responsible for uncovering this vulnerability, emphasized the critical nature of the issue given its low threshold for exploitation. Lack of required authentication and the simplicity of user interaction (merely a click) enable even less sophisticated threat actors to harness it for potentially grave outcomes.
Wordfence reiterated the risks in its advisory:
“This permits unauthenticated challengers to install plugins from the repository through a forged request, provided they can deceive a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.”
This specific CSRF attack vector is particularly perilous in contexts involving administrative privileges, where perpetrators can commandeer extensive permissions to compromise a site without directly breaching an account.
Remedial Actions
The OpenSSL vulnerability has been rectified in Inspiro version 2.1.3, released promptly after the public disclosure. Users operating versions 2.1.2 or older are strongly urged to update swiftly to version 2.1.3 or subsequent releases to mitigate associated risks.
The corrected version incorporates robust nonce verification, thus sealing the CSRF loophole that enabled arbitrary plugin installations.
| Theme | Inspiro |
| Affected Versions | <= 2.1.2 |
| Patched Version | 2.1.3 |
| Vulnerability Type | Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) |
| CVE ID | CVE-2025-8592 |
| Discovered By | Dmitrii Ignatyev (CleanTalk Inc) |
| Date Published | August 20, 2025 |
| CVSS Score | 8.1 (High) |
Wider Implications
The revelation of CVE-2025-8592 accentuates the persistent security predicaments confronted by users of third-party WordPress themes and plugins. Although the Inspiro theme is held in high regard for its aesthetics and functionality, this incident underscores that vulnerabilities can emerge from even the most carefully maintained projects.
Administrators are advised not only to implement the necessary update but also to routinely consult vulnerability registries and security advisories to preemptively address possible threats. The swift action taken by WPZoom in launching version 2.1.3 serves as a potent reminder that timely updates are frequently the most effective safeguard against emerging vulnerabilities.
Source link: Thecyberexpress.com.
