CVE-2020-25213: 
WordPress vulnerability analysis and mitigation

The File Manager (wp-file-manager) plugin before version 6.9 for WordPress contained a critical vulnerability (CVE-2020-25213) discovered in September 2020. The vulnerability allowed remote attackers to upload and execute arbitrary PHP code by exploiting an unsafe example elFinder connector file that was renamed with a .php extension. This vulnerability affected over 700,000 active WordPress installations and was actively exploited in the wild during August and September 2020 (NVD, Wordfence).

The vulnerability existed due to an example file 'lib/php/connector.minimal.php' being left in plugin installations. This file enabled unauthenticated execution of certain commands, including file upload functionality that could lead to remote code execution. The vulnerability received a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 CRITICAL (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating its severe impact and ease of exploitation. Attackers could use the elFinder upload command to write PHP code into the wp-content/plugins/wp-file-manager/lib/files/ directory (Seravo, AttackerKB).

The vulnerability allowed attackers to gain complete control over affected WordPress sites. Successful exploitation could lead to theft of private data, site destruction, or using the compromised website to mount further attacks on other sites and infrastructure. The widespread nature of the plugin, with over 700,000 active installations, made this vulnerability particularly significant (Seravo).

The vulnerability was patched in version 6.9 of the File Manager plugin, released on September 1, 2020. Site administrators were advised to immediately update to version 6.9 or higher. For sites unable to update immediately, the recommended workaround was to remove or disable the plugin entirely, as simply deactivating it was not sufficient to prevent exploitation (Seravo).

The security community responded quickly to the threat, with multiple security firms and researchers publishing analyses and warnings. WordPress security companies like Wordfence reported blocking attacks against more than 1.7 million sites in the days following the vulnerability's discovery. The incident highlighted the ongoing security challenges faced by WordPress plugin ecosystems and led to increased discussion about the importance of automatic update features in WordPress (ZDNet).