CVE-2025-46481
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedDeserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in Michael Cannon Flickr Shortcode Importer flickr-shortcode-importer allows Object Injection.This issue affects Flickr Shortcode Importer: from n/a through <= 2.2.3.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe Flickr Shortcode Importer WordPress plugin up to version 2.2.3 is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection via deserialization of untrusted data. The plugin likely uses PHP's unserialize() function on data from Flickr API responses without proper validation, allowing authenticated attackers (or potentially unauthenticated depending on the attack vector) to inject arbitrary PHP objects. If suitable gadget chains exist in the WordPress environment, this can lead to arbitrary code execution.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify plugin installationNavigate to WordPress Admin > Plugins and locate 'Flickr Shortcode Importer' in the plugin list, or inspect the /wp-content/plugins/ directory for a folder named 'flickr-shortcode-importer' or similar.Affected if The plugin is present in the WordPress installation.
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Determine installed versionIn the Plugins list in WordPress Admin, click on the plugin name to view details and note the version number displayed, or open the main plugin PHP file and look for the 'Version' header in the plugin comment block.Affected if The installed version is 2.2.3 or any earlier version (the vulnerability affects up to 2.2.3).
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Confirm plugin activation statusIn WordPress Admin > Plugins, check whether Flickr Shortcode Importer is listed as 'Active' under the plugin status column.Affected if The plugin is currently activated, making the vulnerable code executable.
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Check for Flickr API configurationNavigate to the plugin settings page (usually under Settings or the plugin own menu) and check if any Flickr API credentials or shortcode functionality is configured and enabled.Affected if The plugin settings expose Flickr shortcode import functionality, which processes Flickr API responses containing the unserialize() call.
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Review server access logs for unusual activityExamine web server access logs (Apache/Nginx) for requests to endpoints that might trigger the plugin, looking for suspicious serialized data patterns in query strings or POST bodies.Affected if Logs contain requests with serialized PHP objects or known gadget chain patterns sent to Flickr-related plugin endpoints.
The environment is affected if the Flickr Shortcode Importer plugin is installed, activated, and runs version 2.2.3 or earlier, particularly if Flickr API integration is configured.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpdate to the latest version of the plugin immediately. If no patch is available, remove and replace the plugin. If the plugin must remain in use temporarily, disable it until a fix is released.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-46481 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-46481 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data