CVE-2025-49073 in Sweet Dessert Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 06/06/2025
Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in Axiomthemes Sweet Dessert allows Object Injection.This issue affects Sweet Dessert: from n/a before 1.1.13.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/09/2026
The CVE-2025-49073 vulnerability represents a critical deserialization flaw in the Axiomthemes Sweet Dessert WordPress theme, classified as a deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability under CWE-502. This weakness occurs when the theme improperly processes serialized data from untrusted sources, creating an attack surface that enables remote code execution and arbitrary object injection. The vulnerability specifically affects versions prior to 1.1.13, indicating that the issue has been identified and patched in subsequent releases, though the exact version range remains unspecified in the initial description. The flaw stems from the theme's failure to properly validate or sanitize serialized data inputs, allowing malicious actors to inject crafted objects that can be executed during the deserialization process.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the theme's handling of user-supplied or externally provided serialized data structures that are subsequently unserialized without adequate security controls. When a maliciously crafted serialized object is processed, it can trigger unintended execution paths within the application's object model, potentially allowing attackers to instantiate arbitrary classes or execute code with the privileges of the web application. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it can be exploited through various attack vectors including theme options, user profile data, or any interface that accepts serialized input. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203, which describes the use of deserialization attacks to execute malicious code through object injection.
The operational impact of CVE-2025-49073 extends beyond simple code execution to encompass complete system compromise when exploited successfully. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to the affected WordPress installation, potentially leading to data theft, defacement, or the establishment of persistent backdoors. The vulnerability's severity is amplified by the fact that it affects a widely used WordPress theme, increasing the attack surface and potential impact. Organizations running vulnerable versions of the Sweet Dessert theme face significant risk of unauthorized access, data breaches, and potential compromise of entire web infrastructures. The vulnerability also represents a potential pathway for privilege escalation attacks, especially when the web application runs with elevated permissions. This type of attack can be particularly devastating in multi-tenant environments or shared hosting scenarios where a compromise of one site could affect others on the same server.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2025-49073 should prioritize immediate patching of affected installations to version 1.1.13 or later, which contains the necessary security fixes. Administrators should also implement additional defensive measures including input validation, output encoding, and the removal of unnecessary serialized data processing capabilities. Network segmentation and monitoring should be enhanced to detect suspicious deserialization activities, while regular security audits should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components. The remediation process should include thorough testing of the patched version to ensure that security updates do not introduce regressions or compatibility issues. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and runtime application self-protection mechanisms to provide additional layers of defense against exploitation attempts. Regular vulnerability assessments and security training for developers are essential to prevent similar issues in future implementations and to maintain overall security posture against evolving threats.