CVE-2019-25145 in Contact Form & SMTP Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 06/07/2023
The Contact Form & SMTP Plugin by PirateForms plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to HTML injection in the ‘public/class-pirateforms-public.php’ file in versions up to, and including, 2.5.1 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary HTML in emails that could be used to phish unsuspecting victims.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/09/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-25145 affects the Contact Form & SMTP Plugin by PirateForms for WordPress, representing a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity of email communications. This plugin, widely used for handling contact forms and email routing within WordPress environments, contains a significant weakness in its input validation mechanisms that exposes systems to sophisticated phishing attacks. The vulnerability specifically resides within the public class file responsible for handling front-end form submissions, where inadequate sanitization processes fail to properly filter user-supplied data before it is processed for email transmission. The flaw manifests when the plugin fails to implement proper output escaping for HTML content, creating an avenue for malicious actors to inject harmful code into email messages that are subsequently delivered to form recipients.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which categorizes the issue as a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability, specifically in the context of email output rather than web page rendering. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious input containing HTML tags and scripts within the contact form fields, which are then transmitted through the email system without proper sanitization. The unauthenticated nature of this attack means that any visitor to a WordPress site utilizing the vulnerable plugin can potentially execute this exploit without requiring administrative credentials or prior system access. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged by threat actors with minimal technical expertise to conduct large-scale phishing campaigns targeting unsuspecting users who receive the compromised emails.
The operational impact of CVE-2019-25145 extends beyond simple data theft, as it enables sophisticated social engineering attacks that can compromise user trust and system security. When malicious HTML code is injected into email communications, attackers can create convincing phishing pages that appear legitimate to recipients, potentially leading to credential theft, malware distribution, or financial fraud. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 2.5.1, indicating that the plugin developers failed to implement adequate security measures during the development lifecycle, creating a persistent threat vector that remains active in older installations. Organizations using this plugin may experience reputational damage when their email systems become vectors for phishing attacks, as recipients may associate the malicious activity with their legitimate communications.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that address the input sanitization issues, as the developers have likely released patches to resolve the HTML injection flaw. System administrators should also implement additional monitoring measures to detect unusual email patterns or content that may indicate exploitation attempts, while considering the deployment of email filtering solutions that can identify and block potentially malicious HTML content. The remediation process should include comprehensive vulnerability scanning of all WordPress installations to identify affected plugin versions, followed by immediate patch deployment and thorough testing to ensure that the security fix does not introduce compatibility issues. Organizations should also review their email security policies and implement multi-factor authentication measures to reduce the overall risk exposure from such vulnerabilities. This case highlights the critical importance of proper input validation and output escaping in web applications, as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten security principles, particularly emphasizing the need for defense-in-depth strategies that protect against both known and emerging threats in the WordPress ecosystem.