CVE-2025-10196
📋 TL;DR
The Survey Anyplace WordPress plugin has a stored XSS vulnerability in its 'surveyanyplace_embed' shortcode. Authenticated attackers with contributor-level access or higher can inject malicious scripts that execute when users view affected pages. This affects all WordPress sites using the plugin up to version 1.0.0.
💻 Affected Systems
- Survey Anyplace 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 admin credentials, deface websites, redirect users to malicious sites, or install backdoors for persistent access.
Likely Case
Attackers with contributor accounts inject malicious scripts to steal user session cookies or display phishing content to visitors.
If Mitigated
With proper user access controls and content filtering, impact is limited to potential defacement of specific pages.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires authenticated access (contributor or higher) and ability to create/edit posts/pages with shortcodes.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Version after 1.0.0
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/surveyanyplace/
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find Survey Anyplace plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if update available. 5. If no update, deactivate and remove plugin.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Plugin
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable plugin until patched version is available
wp plugin deactivate surveyanyplace
Restrict User Roles
allRemove contributor-level access from untrusted users and review existing contributor accounts
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Remove contributor and author roles from all untrusted users
- Implement web application firewall with XSS protection rules
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Survey Anyplace version. If version is 1.0.0 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get surveyanyplace --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After update, verify plugin version is higher than 1.0.0 in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual shortcode modifications in post/page edits
- Multiple failed login attempts followed by successful contributor login
- Posts/pages containing suspicious script tags or encoded payloads
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections to suspicious domains from your WordPress site
- Unexpected JavaScript loading from your domain
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("surveyanyplace_embed" OR "shortcode") AND ("script" OR "javascript" OR "onload" OR "onerror")🔗 References
- https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/surveyanyplace/trunk/resources/library/surveyanyplace-shortcodes.php
- https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/surveyanyplace/trunk/resources/templates/surveyanyplace.php
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/efdb6ec5-e6a8-4279-b637-38267a852472?source=cve
