CVE-2025-13054
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows authenticated WordPress users with contributor-level access or higher to inject malicious scripts via the wppb-embed shortcode. The scripts are stored and execute whenever other users view affected pages, potentially compromising their browsers. All WordPress sites using the User Profile Builder plugin up to version 3.14.8 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 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 session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users, potentially leading to full site compromise.
Likely Case
Attackers inject malicious scripts to steal user session cookies or credentials, perform phishing attacks, or deface website content.
If Mitigated
With proper input validation and output escaping, the vulnerability is eliminated; existing attacks would be prevented from executing.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access but is straightforward once an attacker has contributor-level credentials.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.14.9 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3397155/profile-builder
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'User Profile Builder' and click 'Update Now'. 4. Verify the plugin version is 3.14.9 or higher.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable wppb-embed shortcode
allRemove or restrict usage of the vulnerable shortcode to prevent exploitation.
Add to theme's functions.php: remove_shortcode('wppb-embed');
Restrict user roles
allLimit contributor-level access to trusted users only.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with XSS protection rules
- Disable the User Profile Builder plugin entirely until patching is possible
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Installed Plugins for User Profile Builder version 3.14.8 or lower.Check Version:
wp plugin list --name='profile-builder' --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm plugin version is 3.14.9 or higher in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to WordPress admin-ajax.php containing wppb-embed parameters
- Multiple failed login attempts followed by successful contributor-level login
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests with suspicious script tags in wppb-embed parameters
- Outbound connections to unknown domains after page loads
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("wppb-embed" OR "profile-builder") AND ("script" OR "javascript:" OR "onerror=")