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Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)Weakness · CWE-352

CVE-2025-9616

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
The PopAd plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.4. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the PopAd_reset_cookie_time function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to reset cookie time settings via a forged request granted they can trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.

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 confidence

The PopAd WordPress plugin versions up to 1.0.4 contain a Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerability in the PopAd_reset_cookie_time function due to missing or incorrect nonce validation. An unauthenticated attacker can forge requests to reset cookie time settings by tricking a site administrator into clicking a malicious link.

MitigationUpdate to a patched version of the plugin once available, or add proper nonce validation to the PopAd_reset_cookie_time function. Administrators should avoid clicking untrusted links as a temporary mitigation.

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if PopAd plugin is installed
    Log into WordPress admin panel and navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. Look for 'PopAd' in the list of installed plugins. Alternatively, check the /wp-content/plugins/ directory for a popad folder.
    Affected if The PopAd plugin folder exists in the WordPress installation and the plugin is active.
  2. Check the installed PopAd version
    In the WordPress admin plugins list, find PopAd and view the plugin details to see the version number. Or open the main plugin file (typically popad.php or index.php in /wp-content/plugins/popad/) and locate the 'Version' field in the plugin header comment.
    Affected if The reported version is 1.0.4 or lower.
  3. Locate the vulnerable function in the codebase
    Search the PopAd plugin files for the function named 'PopAd_reset_cookie_time'. This is typically found in the main plugin PHP file. Use a file search or grep command: grep -r "PopAd_reset_cookie_time" /path/to/wp-content/plugins/popad/
    Affected if The function PopAd_reset_cookie_time exists in the plugin code.
  4. Verify absence of nonce validation in the vulnerable function
    Open the PHP file containing PopAd_reset_cookie_time function. Examine the function code to confirm it lacks wp_verify_nonce or check_admin_referer calls before performing the cookie time reset action.
    Affected if The function executes the reset action without any nonce verification check.
  5. Confirm the action is reachable without authentication
    Review the add_action or add_shortcode calls that trigger PopAd_reset_cookie_time. Check if they are hooked to any admin-only hooks (like admin_init with capability checks) or if they are publicly accessible.
    Affected if The function can be triggered via a URL request without requiring administrator authentication.

A WordPress site is affected if the PopAd plugin is installed with version 1.0.4 or lower and contains the PopAd_reset_cookie_time function without nonce validation that can be triggered without authentication.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update to a patched version of the plugin once available, or add proper nonce validation to the PopAd_reset_cookie_time function. Administrators should avoid clicking untrusted links as a temporary mitigation.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Version 1.0.5 or later

  1. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate the PopAd plugin
  4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to update to version 1.0.5 or later
  5. Verify the plugin is running version 1.0.5 or higher after the update

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-9616 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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