CVE-2025-11768
📋 TL;DR
The Islamic Phrases WordPress plugin has a stored XSS vulnerability that allows authenticated attackers with contributor-level access or higher to inject malicious scripts into website pages. These scripts execute whenever users view the compromised pages, potentially stealing credentials or performing unauthorized actions. All WordPress sites using this plugin up to version 2.12.2015 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Islamic Phrases 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 inject malicious scripts to steal user session cookies, redirect visitors to phishing pages, or display unwanted advertisements.
If Mitigated
With proper input validation and output escaping, the vulnerability would be prevented, and only properly formatted phrases would be displayed.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access but is straightforward once attacker has contributor privileges. The vulnerability is in the 'phrases' shortcode attribute handling.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Versions after 2.12.2015
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/islamic-phrases
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Islamic Phrases' plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if update available. 5. If no update available, deactivate and delete the plugin.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Remove Contributor Access
allTemporarily restrict contributor-level access to prevent exploitation while patching.
Disable Plugin
allDeactivate the Islamic Phrases plugin until patched.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block XSS payloads in shortcode attributes
- Restrict user roles to only trusted administrators and remove contributor access
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Islamic Phrases → Version. If version is 2.12.2015 or earlier, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin list --name='islamic-phrases' --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify plugin version is higher than 2.12.2015. Test shortcode functionality with safe test phrases.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to WordPress admin-ajax.php with script tags in parameters
- Multiple failed login attempts followed by successful contributor login
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections to suspicious domains from WordPress server
- Unusual traffic patterns to pages containing Islamic Phrases shortcodes
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("islamic-phrases" OR "phrases shortcode") AND ("script" OR "javascript:" OR "onerror=")