CVE-2025-11733
📋 TL;DR
The Footnotes Made Easy WordPress plugin has a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious scripts into plugin settings. These scripts execute whenever users view affected pages, potentially compromising visitor browsers. All WordPress sites using this plugin up to version 3.0.7 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- WordPress Footnotes Made Easy 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, hijack user sessions, redirect visitors to malicious sites, or deploy malware through compromised WordPress sites.
Likely Case
Attackers inject malicious JavaScript to steal session cookies, redirect users to phishing pages, or deface website content.
If Mitigated
With proper web application firewalls and content security policies, script execution could be blocked, limiting impact to script injection without execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
The vulnerability requires no authentication and exploitation is straightforward via plugin settings.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.0.8 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/footnotes-made-easy/tags/3.0.8/
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Footnotes Made Easy' and click 'Update Now'. 4. Verify update to version 3.0.8 or later.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable plugin
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate footnotes-made-easy
Apply WAF rules
allConfigure web application firewall to block XSS payloads targeting plugin endpoints
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Remove the Footnotes Made Easy plugin completely
- Implement Content Security Policy headers to restrict script execution
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Footnotes Made Easy → Version numberCheck Version:
wp plugin get footnotes-made-easy --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify plugin version is 3.0.8 or higher in WordPress admin📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to /wp-admin/admin.php?page=footnotes-made-easy
- JavaScript payloads in plugin setting submissions
Network Indicators:
- Malicious script tags in HTTP responses from WordPress pages
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("footnotes-made-easy" OR "admin.php?page=footnotes-made-easy") AND ("script" OR "javascript" OR "onload" OR "onerror")