CVE-2025-22705
📋 TL;DR
This CSRF vulnerability in the Disqus Popular Posts WordPress plugin allows attackers to trick authenticated administrators into performing actions that inject malicious scripts. When exploited, it enables reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. WordPress sites using vulnerable versions of this plugin are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Disqus Popular Posts 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 hijack administrator sessions, inject persistent malware, deface websites, or steal sensitive data from users visiting compromised pages.
Likely Case
Attackers would typically use this to inject malicious scripts that steal session cookies or redirect users to phishing sites, primarily affecting site visitors.
If Mitigated
With proper CSRF protections and content security policies, the attack surface is significantly reduced, though some risk remains if the plugin is vulnerable.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires tricking an authenticated administrator into clicking a malicious link, making it moderately complex but feasible.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Versions after 2.1.1
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Disqus Popular Posts' and update to latest version. 4. Verify update completes successfully.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement CSRF Tokens
allAdd CSRF protection to plugin forms if custom modifications are possible
Content Security Policy
allImplement CSP headers to restrict script execution sources
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable or remove the Disqus Popular Posts plugin entirely
- Restrict admin panel access to trusted IP addresses only
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Disqus Popular Posts version. If version is 2.1.1 or earlier, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin list --name='disqus-popular-posts' --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify plugin version shows higher than 2.1.1 in WordPress admin.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to plugin admin endpoints
- Multiple failed CSRF token validations
Network Indicators:
- Suspicious referrer headers in admin requests
- Unexpected script tags in plugin responses
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND (uri_path="/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" OR uri_path CONTAINS "disqus-popular-posts") AND status=200