Overview
CVE-2025-11759 identifies a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability affecting the “Backup, Restore and Migrate your sites with XCloner” plugin for WordPress. This vulnerability exists in versions up to and including 4.8.2. By exploiting this flaw, unauthenticated attackers can potentially modify FTP backup configurations and exfiltrate sensitive website data. This is achieved by tricking a site administrator into performing an unintended action, such as clicking a malicious link.
Technical Details
The vulnerability stems from missing or insufficient nonce validation within the Xcloner_Remote_Storage:save() function. Nonces are cryptographic tokens designed to prevent CSRF attacks. The absence of proper nonce validation allows an attacker to forge requests on behalf of an authenticated administrator. Specifically, an attacker can craft a malicious URL or form that, when visited/submitted by a logged-in administrator, will trigger the Xcloner_Remote_Storage:save() function to save attacker-controlled FTP settings. This allows the attacker to specify a remote FTP server to which backups will be sent.
CVSS Analysis
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) assigns CVE-2025-11759 a score of 4.3, indicating a MEDIUM severity vulnerability. This score reflects the following characteristics:
- Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – The attack can be launched remotely.
- Attack Complexity (AC): High (H) – Exploitation requires social engineering to trick a user into performing an action.
- Privileges Required (PR): None (N) – No privileges are required to initiate the attack.
- User Interaction (UI): Required (R) – Requires a user to perform an action, such as clicking a link.
- Scope (S): Unchanged (U) – The vulnerability does not affect components beyond the XCloner plugin.
- Confidentiality Impact (C): Low (L) – Potential for limited disclosure of information.
- Integrity Impact (I): Low (L) – Potential for modification of data.
- Availability Impact (A): None (N) – No impact on system availability.
Possible Impact
Successful exploitation of CVE-2025-11759 can lead to significant consequences:
- Data Exfiltration: Attackers can configure the plugin to back up sensitive website data (database, files, etc.) to an attacker-controlled FTP server.
- Compromised Backups: Existing backups could be overwritten or deleted.
- Website Defacement/Malware Injection: While not a direct impact, the exfiltrated data could be used to identify vulnerabilities that allow for website defacement or malware injection.
Mitigation or Patch Steps
The recommended mitigation is to update the XCloner plugin to the latest available version. While the provided reference links suggest version 4.8.3 or later should address the issue, ensure you are running the most recent version provided by the plugin developer to receive all security updates and bug fixes.
To update the plugin:
- Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.
- Navigate to “Plugins” -> “Installed Plugins.”
- Locate the “XCloner” plugin.
- If an update is available, click the “Update Now” link.
If an update is not immediately available, monitor the WordPress plugin repository for updates and apply them as soon as possible. In the interim, be extremely cautious of links and requests you receive, especially those related to FTP or backup configurations.
References
WordPress Plugins Trac – Changeset 3398881
Wordfence Threat Intelligence – CVE-2025-11759
