CVE-2025-1689
📋 TL;DR
The ThemeMakers PayPal Express Checkout plugin for WordPress versions up to 1.1.9 contains a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in the 'paypal' shortcode. Authenticated attackers with contributor-level permissions or higher can inject malicious scripts that execute when users view compromised pages. This affects WordPress sites using the vulnerable plugin.
💻 Affected Systems
- ThemeMakers PayPal Express Checkout WordPress Plugin
📦 What is this software?
Paypal Checkout by Thememakers
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access with contributor privileges or higher. The vulnerability is in a publicly available WordPress plugin.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Version after 1.1.9
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/ThemeMakers/tmm_paypal_checkout/commit/d6d3b1877ed705ac171cf7e74a6e866fc135ba22
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'PayPal Express Checkout' plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. If no update appears, manually download latest version from GitHub and replace plugin files.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Plugin
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate tmm_paypal_checkout
Restrict User Roles
allLimit contributor-level access to trusted users only
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block XSS payloads
- Remove 'paypal' shortcode usage from all posts and pages
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → PayPal Express Checkout → Version number. If version is 1.1.9 or lower, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get tmm_paypal_checkout --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After update, verify plugin version is higher than 1.1.9. Test 'paypal' shortcode with script payloads to confirm sanitization.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to wp-admin with script tags in parameters
- Multiple page edits by contributor-level users
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected script tags in HTTP responses containing 'paypal' shortcode
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("paypal" AND "<script>" OR "javascript:")