CVE-2025-12171

RESTful Content Syndication 1.1.0 - 1.5.0 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Arbitrary File Upload

2025-10-31 00:00
kr0d

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.6.0
Affected Version
1.1.0 – 1.5.0
CVSS
8.8High
Weakness type
CWE-434 · Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
CVE
CVE-2025-12171
View all RESTful Content Syndication vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2025-12171 is a high-severity Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type vulnerability in the RESTful Content Syndication WordPress plugin, affecting versions 1.1.0 – 1.5.0. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Contributor level or above. The issue is fixed in version 1.6.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2025, reported by kr0d.

Vulnerability Overview

The RESTful Content Syndication plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file uploads due to missing file type validation in the ingest_image() function in versions 1.1.0 to 1.5.0. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Author-level access and above, to upload arbitrary files on the affected site's server which may make remote code execution possible. This requires the attacker have access to a defined third-party server as specified in the settings, so it is unlikely that this will be exploitable by contributor-level users, and more likely to be exploited by administrators who also have access to the plugin's settings.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-434: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type

RESTful Content Syndication 1.1.0 – 1.5.0 carries this weakness at ingest_image(), and reaching it takes an account at Contributor level or above. An unrestricted file upload lets a caller store a file whose type or destination the application does not properly constrain.

If an uploaded file lands anywhere the server will execute, the flaw becomes remote code execution and the site should be treated as fully compromised. For RESTful Content Syndication the fix is 1.6.0: builds 1.1.0 – 1.5.0 are affected, anything from 1.6.0 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.6.0, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Contributor access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. None of that substitutes for the fix: RESTful Content Syndication 1.6.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Alerts

External References

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C