Urgent Security Advisory — Felan Framework plugin (≤ 1.1.4): Hardcoded Credentials (CVE-2025-10850)

Summary: A critical Broken Authentication vulnerability has been published for the Felan Framework WordPress plugin (versions ≤ 1.1.4). The issue (CVE-2025-10850) allows unauthenticated actors to abuse hardcoded credentials in the plugin to perform privileged actions. The vulnerability is rated CVSS 9.8 and is fixed in version 1.1.5. If you run this plugin, act immediately: update, contain, and verify you were not compromised.

Table of contents

• What happened
• Why this matters for WordPress site owners
• Technical summary of the issue
• How attackers can abuse hardcoded credentials — realistic attack scenarios
• Immediate actions (0–24 hours)
• Containment and mitigation (when you can’t immediately update)
• Detection and incident response (what to look for)
• Recovery and hardening after compromise
• Guidance for developers to avoid hardcoded secrets
• Defensive posture — layered mitigations and rapid response
• Appendix: practical commands and WAF rule examples

What happened

Security researchers disclosed a Broken Authentication vulnerability affecting the Felan Framework WordPress plugin up to and including version 1.1.4. The root cause: hardcoded credentials embedded in the plugin code. These credentials can be used by unauthenticated attackers to gain access to privileged functionality that should not be available publicly.

The vendor released version 1.1.5 which removes the hardcoded credentials and patches the authentication flow. Many sites still run outdated plugins and remain exposed. Attackers rapidly scan for and weaponise high-severity bugs like this within hours to days of disclosure.

Why this matters for WordPress site owners

Hardcoded credentials are a severe and straightforward vulnerability:

• They bypass application authentication logic because the secret is built into code that an attacker can discover or exploit.
• If those credentials grant admin-level actions or access to remote APIs, an attacker can create admin users, inject backdoors, exfiltrate data, or pivot to other systems.
• The exploit requires no authentication, meaning the entire Internet can attempt exploitation.
• This vulnerability is rated CVSS 9.8 — critical and likely to be mass-scanned and exploited soon after disclosure.

If your site runs Felan Framework ≤ 1.1.4, assume risk until you patch and verify integrity.

Technical summary of the issue

Hardcoded credentials occur when a developer embeds fixed usernames, passwords, API keys, or tokens inside application code. In WordPress plugins that can manifest as:

• A username/password pair used directly in a plugin endpoint check (for example, if ($user === ‘admin’ && $pass === ‘secret123’) …).
• API keys or tokens committed into plugin files and used to authenticate privileged operations or remote services.
• A backdoor-like authorization mechanism that accepts a hardcoded token.

When such credentials are present and reachable from application logic, an attacker can craft requests containing the expected credential or trigger the logic path that accepts the hardcoded value.

The reported vulnerability allowed unauthenticated actors to execute actions normally reserved for privileged users. The definitive fix is to update Felan Framework to version 1.1.5 or later, which removes the hardcoded secret and enforces proper authentication and authorization.

CVE: CVE-2025-10850
Patch: update Felan Framework to version 1.1.5 or later

How attackers can abuse hardcoded credentials — realistic attack scenarios

1. Direct exploitation of a public endpoint

   The plugin may expose an endpoint (e.g., /wp-json/felan/v1/action or /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=felan_do) that checks for a hardcoded token. An attacker simply sends requests with that token to trigger privileged actions: create users, run code, change settings.

2. Credential extraction via source access

   If plugin files are accidentally exposed (misconfigured servers, backups, public repositories), attackers can read the hardcoded secret and then call the endpoint directly.

3. Chaining privileges

   Once an attacker leverages the hardcoded credential to create an admin user or activate a malicious plugin/theme, persistence and lateral movement become trivial—installing backdoors, adding cron jobs, or compromising other sites on shared hosting.

4. Automated mass exploitation

   The exploit pattern is scriptable. Attackers will rapidly build scanners to probe thousands of sites and attempt exploitation with a single request template.

Immediate actions (0–24 hours)

Treat this as critical. Follow these steps now:

1. Identify affected sites
   • Search servers and inventories for the Felan Framework plugin.
   • Confirm plugin version in the Dashboard → Plugins, or inspect the plugin header in wp-content/plugins/felan-framework/readme.txt or felan-framework.php.
2. Update the plugin immediately
   • Upgrade to version 1.1.5 or later. This is the permanent fix.
   • For bulk operations, use site management tools or WP-CLI:

     wp plugin update felan-framework --version=1.1.5

3. If you cannot update immediately, implement temporary containment
   • Restrict access to plugin endpoints using server-level rules, WAF rules, or by temporarily blocking the plugin path (examples below).
4. Audit and verify
   • After updating, perform an integrity audit (see Detection and incident response) to verify no compromise occurred.

Containment and mitigation (when you can’t immediately update)

If updating immediately is not possible, apply these mitigations to reduce risk:

1. Block access to plugin endpoints

   If the plugin exposes a REST route or admin-ajax handlers, block or restrict requests to those endpoints unless from authorised IPs.

   Example Nginx emergency deny (may break functionality):

   location ~* /wp-content/plugins/felan-framework/ {
       deny all;
       return 403;
   }

2. Block specific request patterns at the WAF or web server

   Block requests that match parameters or headers used in exploitation. Adapt rules to your environment.

   Conceptual ModSecurity rule:

   SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains /wp-content/plugins/felan-framework/" "id:100100,phase:2,deny,status:403,log,msg:'Blocked Felan framework exploit attempt'"

3. Rate-limit and challenge public endpoints

   Add rate-limiting and CAPTCHAs for requests to admin-ajax.php and REST endpoints to slow automated scanners.

4. Block common scanner user-agents

   Not foolproof but reduces background noise from unsophisticated tools.

5. Isolate if active exploitation is detected

   If logs show successful exploitation, put the site into maintenance mode and isolate network access to prevent further damage.

Detection and incident response (what to look for)

Assume any site running the vulnerable plugin may have been targeted. Follow this checklist:

1. Check for new or modified admin accounts

   wp user list --role=administrator --format=table

   Or query the database for administrator-capable users and check registrations for suspicious timestamps.

2. Inspect plugin and core file changes

   Compare file hashes to known-good backups. Look for recently modified files under wp-content/plugins and wp-content/uploads.

   find . -type f -mtime -14 -print

3. Scan for webshells and malware

   Search for common indicators: eval(base64_decode( , preg_replace("/.*/e", , system($_GET['cmd'])).

   grep -R --exclude-dir=vendor -n "base64_decode" wp-content/

4. Review web server and access logs

   Look for requests to plugin paths, repeated POSTs to admin-ajax.php, or REST endpoints from the same IPs.

5. Inspect database changes

   SELECT option_name, option_value FROM wp_options WHERE option_name LIKE '%felan%' OR option_value LIKE '%base64%';

   Search for unexpected options, encoded payloads, or unknown cron entries.

6. Check scheduled tasks (wp-cron)

   List cron events and identify unauthorized jobs invoking plugin code.

7. Evaluate IPs and reputation

   For IPs that probed or attacked your site, check blocklists and geolocation to understand patterns. Many attacks use proxies, so focus on behaviour indicators.

8. Validate plugin version at time of activity

   Confirm the site was running a vulnerable version when suspicious activity occurred.

Recovery and hardening after compromise

If you confirm a compromise, follow a thorough recovery process:

1. Containment
   • Take the site offline or place it behind a maintenance page.
   • Rotate credentials for all admin users and reset passwords to strong, unique values.
   • Revoke and reissue any API keys or tokens used by plugins.
2. Clean-up
   • Replace modified WordPress core, theme, and plugin files with clean copies from official sources.
   • Remove unknown admin users and revert unauthorized database changes.
   • Delete malicious files and backdoors—manually or with trusted malware removal tools.
3. Investigate persistence mechanisms
   • Check for malicious cron jobs, modified wp-config.php, code in mu-plugins, and dropper files in uploads/.
4. Rotate secrets
   • Change database passwords, FTP/SFTP, hosting control panel credentials, and any other secrets that might be stored or reused.
   • Enforce multi-factor authentication for privileged accounts where possible.
5. Restore and verify
   • Restore from a clean backup taken before the compromise when available.
   • Re-scan for malware and validate functionality before returning the site to production.
6. Report and learn
   • Document the incident timeline, root cause, and remediation steps. Consider professional incident response for complex breaches.

Guidance for developers — avoid hardcoded secrets

Developers should adopt these secure practices to prevent similar issues:

• Never embed credentials in code. Use environment variables, secure stores, or configuration managed outside version control.
• Treat secrets as configuration, not logic. Keep them out of code repositories.
• Use WordPress’ capability checks and standard authentication flows—do not implement custom, undocumented shortcuts.
• Sanitise and validate all inputs; authenticate every action that performs privileged work.
• Run static analysis and periodic security reviews. Include security checks in CI pipelines.
• Implement a responsible disclosure process and respond promptly to reports.

Defensive posture — layered mitigations and rapid response

A layered defensive posture reduces exposure and helps you respond quickly when a new vulnerability is disclosed:

• Apply principle of least privilege for users, file permissions, and service accounts.
• Use server-level access controls to restrict plugin directories and admin endpoints where feasible.
• Deploy request filtering, rate limits, and anomaly detection on administrative endpoints to slow automated attacks.
• Maintain timely backups and test restores regularly to enable recovery from compromise.
• Have an incident response playbook and a list of trusted responders to contact if you detect active exploitation.

Appendix: practical commands and WAF rule examples

Use the following commands and sample rules with caution and adapt them to your environment.

1. Identify plugin files and version quickly

# List plugin directory and read plugin header
ls -la wp-content/plugins/felan-framework/
grep -R "Version" wp-content/plugins/felan-framework/* | head

2. Find recent file changes (last 30 days)

find wp-content/plugins -type f -mtime -30 -print

3. List administrator users via WP-CLI

wp user list --role=administrator --fields=ID,user_login,user_email,user_registered

4. Search for suspicious PHP patterns

grep -R --exclude-dir=node_modules --exclude-dir=vendor -n "base64_decode\|eval(\|preg_replace(.*/e\)" .

5. Example ModSecurity rule: block requests to plugin path (conceptual)

# Block any request referencing the vulnerable plugin path
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains /wp-content/plugins/felan-framework/" \
  "id:100500,phase:1,deny,log,status:403,msg:'Blocked request to Felan Framework plugin path'"

6. Example Nginx config to restrict plugin folder to admin IPs (replace with your IP)

location ^~ /wp-content/plugins/felan-framework/ {
    allow 203.0.113.42;   # your admin IP
    deny all;
    return 403;
}

Note: This may break legitimate plugin functionality if the plugin serves public assets. Use as emergency measure only.

7. Example rule to block specific POST parameter (replace param name with observed exploit param)

SecRule REQUEST_HEADERS:Content-Type "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
  "chain,SecRule ARGS:param_name \"@rx ^(hardcoded_secret|suspicious_value)$\" \
   ,id:100501,phase:2,deny,status:403,log,msg:'Blocked known Felan exploit parameter'"

Final notes — practical tips

• Prioritise updates. Patching to 1.1.5 is the correct, permanent fix.
• If you run many sites, automate patching and use central management to schedule updates safely.
• Use layered defenses: request filtering, malware scanning, monitoring, and good operational hygiene (backups, least privilege).
• If you find evidence of compromise and are unsure how to proceed, engage a qualified incident responder. Timely, thorough cleanup prevents long-term damage.

If you need assistance auditing a list of sites for this plugin, deploying temporary mitigations, or a walkthrough of detection commands, contact a trusted security consultant or incident response provider.

— Hong Kong Security Expert