CVE-2025-0897
📋 TL;DR
The Modal Window WordPress plugin has a stored XSS vulnerability in versions up to 6.1.5. Authenticated attackers with contributor-level access or higher can inject malicious scripts via the 'iframeBox' shortcode, which execute when users view affected pages. This affects all WordPress sites using vulnerable versions of the plugin.
💻 Affected Systems
- Modal Window - create popup modal window WordPress plugin
📦 What is this software?
Modal Window by Wow Company
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could steal admin credentials, redirect users to malicious sites, deface websites, or install backdoors for persistent access.
Likely Case
Attackers with contributor accounts inject malicious scripts to steal user session cookies or redirect visitors to phishing pages.
If Mitigated
With proper user access controls and content filtering, impact is limited to isolated script execution without privilege escalation.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access but is technically simple once attacker has contributor-level credentials.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 6.1.6 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://wordpress.org/plugins/modal-window/#developers
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Modal Window' plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if update available. 5. If no update available, deactivate and delete plugin, then install fresh version 6.1.6+ from WordPress repository.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable iframeBox shortcode
allRemove or disable the vulnerable shortcode functionality
Add to theme's functions.php: remove_shortcode('iframeBox');
Restrict user roles
allLimit contributor-level access to trusted users only
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Deactivate and remove the Modal Window plugin entirely
- Implement web application firewall rules to block XSS payloads in iframeBox parameters
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Installed Plugins for Modal Window version. If version is 6.1.5 or lower, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin list --name=modal-window --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After update, confirm Modal Window plugin version is 6.1.6 or higher in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual iframeBox shortcode usage with script tags
- Multiple failed login attempts followed by contributor account access
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections to suspicious domains from WordPress pages
- Unexpected script loads in page responses
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND ("iframeBox" AND ("script" OR "javascript:" OR "onload=" OR "onerror="))🔗 References
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/modal-window/trunk/public/class-shortcodes.php#L70
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3243077/
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/modal-window/#developers
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/de4dfcc7-fcc0-46e5-8452-98783007368d?source=cve
