CVE-2025-22501
📋 TL;DR
This is a reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Improve My City WordPress plugin that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages. When exploited, it could enable session hijacking, credential theft, or website defacement. All WordPress sites using Improve My City plugin versions up to 1.6 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Improve My City 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
Attacker steals administrator session cookies, gains full control of WordPress site, installs backdoors, or compromises user accounts.
Likely Case
Attacker steals user session cookies or credentials through phishing-style attacks, potentially leading to account takeover.
If Mitigated
Script execution blocked by modern browser XSS protections or Content Security Policy, limiting impact to script errors.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires crafting malicious URLs and tricking users into clicking them. No authentication bypass needed.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Version after 1.6 (check vendor for specific version)
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Improve My City' plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if update available. 5. If no update, deactivate and remove plugin until patch available.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement Content Security Policy
allAdd CSP headers to block inline script execution and restrict script sources.
Add to .htaccess: Header set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'"
Or add to wp-config.php: header("Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'");
Input Validation Filter
WordPressAdd input sanitization for all user-supplied parameters in theme functions.php
Add to functions.php: function sanitize_input($input) { return htmlspecialchars($input, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); }
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable or remove the Improve My City plugin immediately
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block XSS payloads in URLs
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Improve My City → Version number. If version is 1.6 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin list --name='improve-my-city' --field=version (if WP-CLI installed) or check WordPress admin plugins pageVerify Fix Applied:
After update, verify plugin version is above 1.6. Test by attempting to inject basic XSS payloads in URL parameters the plugin uses.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual long URL parameters containing script tags
- Multiple failed requests with script-like patterns
- Referrer headers containing malicious scripts
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests with <script> tags in query parameters
- URLs containing javascript: protocol or encoded script payloads
SIEM Query:
source="web_server_logs" AND (uri="*<script*" OR uri="*javascript:*" OR uri="*onload=*" OR uri="*onerror=*")