CVE-2025-39480 in Car Dealer Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 05/23/2025
Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in ThemeMakers Car Dealer allows Object Injection.This issue affects Car Dealer: from n/a before 1.6.8.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/18/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-39480 represents a critical deserialization flaw in the ThemeMakers Car Dealer WordPress plugin that exposes systems to object injection attacks. This issue stems from the plugin's improper handling of untrusted data during the deserialization process, creating a pathway for malicious actors to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. The vulnerability specifically impacts versions prior to 1.6.8, indicating that users running older iterations of the plugin remain at significant risk of exploitation. The flaw occurs when the plugin processes user-supplied data without adequate validation or sanitization, allowing attackers to craft malicious serialized objects that can be executed upon deserialization.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-502, which categorizes deserialization of untrusted data as a critical security weakness that enables attackers to manipulate application behavior through crafted input. The attack vector typically involves an authenticated user with sufficient privileges to modify plugin settings or upload content, though in some cases the vulnerability may be exploitable by unauthenticated attackers depending on the specific implementation details. The deserialization process in PHP and similar environments can be particularly dangerous when dealing with user-controlled input, as attackers can manipulate serialized objects to execute methods or classes that were never intended to be accessible through normal application flow. The issue represents a classic example of insecure deserialization where the application's trust model is violated by accepting potentially malicious serialized data from untrusted sources.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple code execution, as successful exploitation can lead to complete system compromise and unauthorized access to sensitive data. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to install backdoors, modify database content, escalate privileges, or even establish persistent access through the compromised WordPress installation. The affected environment may experience data breaches, content tampering, or service disruption depending on the attacker's objectives and the specific implementation of the vulnerability. Organizations running vulnerable versions of the Car Dealer plugin face significant risks to their digital infrastructure, particularly if the plugin is used in conjunction with other vulnerable components or if the WordPress installation lacks proper security hardening measures. The vulnerability also creates opportunities for attackers to use the compromised system as a launching point for further attacks within the network infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patching of the affected plugin to version 1.6.8 or later, which contains the necessary security fixes to prevent object injection attacks. System administrators should also implement additional security measures including input validation, output encoding, and the principle of least privilege to limit the potential impact of any successful exploitation attempts. Network monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns in plugin usage or data access that might indicate exploitation attempts. Organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments of their WordPress installations to identify other potentially vulnerable plugins or components that may be susceptible to similar deserialization attacks. The implementation of web application firewalls and security headers can provide additional layers of protection, while regular security audits and vulnerability scanning should be maintained to ensure ongoing protection against emerging threats. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter and T1566 for credential access, highlighting the multi-faceted nature of potential exploitation paths that attackers can leverage through such deserialization flaws.