CVE-2025-10168
📋 TL;DR
The Any News Ticker WordPress plugin has a stored XSS vulnerability that allows authenticated attackers with contributor-level access or higher to inject malicious scripts via the 'any-ticker' shortcode. These scripts execute whenever users view pages containing the compromised shortcode, affecting all WordPress sites using vulnerable plugin versions.
💻 Affected Systems
- Any News Ticker WordPress Plugin
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could steal administrator credentials, deface websites, redirect users to malicious sites, or install backdoors for persistent access.
Likely Case
Attackers with contributor access inject malicious scripts to steal user session cookies or display fraudulent content to visitors.
If Mitigated
With proper user access controls and content filtering, impact is limited to potential data leakage from users viewing compromised pages.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires authenticated access; exploitation involves injecting scripts via shortcode attributes that aren't properly sanitized.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Version 3.1.2 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://wordpress.org/plugins/any-news-ticker/#developers
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Any News Ticker' and click 'Update Now'. 4. Verify plugin version is 3.1.2 or higher.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Plugin
allTemporarily deactivate the vulnerable plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate any-news-ticker
Restrict User Roles
allLimit contributor-level access to trusted users only
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Remove 'any-ticker' shortcode usage from all posts and pages
- Implement web application firewall with XSS protection rules
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel: Plugins > Installed Plugins, find Any News Ticker and verify version is 3.1.1 or earlier.Check Version:
wp plugin get any-news-ticker --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, confirm plugin version shows 3.1.2 or higher in WordPress admin plugins list.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual shortcode modifications in post/page edits
- Multiple failed login attempts followed by successful contributor login
Network Indicators:
- Suspicious JavaScript payloads in HTTP POST requests to wp-admin/post.php
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND (event="post_updated" AND plugin="any-news-ticker") AND (shortcode="any-ticker" AND payload="script")