CVE-2025-14144
📋 TL;DR
The Mstoic Shortcodes WordPress plugin has a stored XSS vulnerability in its YouTube embed shortcode. Authenticated attackers with Contributor access or higher can inject malicious scripts that execute when users view affected pages. This affects all WordPress sites using plugin versions up to 2.0.
💻 Affected Systems
- Mstoic Shortcodes 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, redirect users to malicious sites, deface websites, or install backdoors leading to complete site compromise.
Likely Case
Attackers with contributor accounts inject malicious scripts to steal user session cookies or redirect visitors to phishing pages.
If Mitigated
With proper user role management and content review, impact is limited to potential defacement of individual posts/pages.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access but is straightforward once an attacker has Contributor privileges.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 2.1 or later
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find Mstoic Shortcodes plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if update available. 5. If no update, manually download version 2.1+ from WordPress repository and replace plugin files.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable vulnerable shortcode
allRemove or disable the ms_youtube_embeds shortcode functionality
Add to theme's functions.php: remove_shortcode('ms_youtube_embeds');
Restrict user roles
allTemporarily remove Contributor role permissions or require editor approval for all posts
Use WordPress role management plugins or custom code to restrict shortcode usage
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable the Mstoic Shortcodes plugin entirely until patched
- Implement strict content review for all posts/pages created by Contributor-level users
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins for Mstoic Shortcodes version 2.0 or earlierCheck Version:
wp plugin list --name=mstoic-shortcodes --field=version (if WP-CLI installed)Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm plugin version is 2.1 or higher in WordPress admin panel📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual post/page edits by Contributor users
- Multiple failed login attempts followed by successful Contributor login
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections to suspicious domains from your WordPress site
- Unexpected script tags in page responses containing 'start' parameter
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("ms_youtube_embeds" OR "start parameter") AND user_role="contributor"🔗 References
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/mstoic-shortcodes/tags/2.0/functions/shortcodes/youtube_embeds.php#L117
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/mstoic-shortcodes/trunk/functions/shortcodes/youtube_embeds.php#L117
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/6e83c039-9b15-4e0c-8b07-3b906938c138?source=cve
