CVE-2025-23467
📋 TL;DR
This CSRF vulnerability in the RSS News Scroller WordPress plugin allows attackers to trick authenticated administrators into executing malicious actions without their consent, leading to stored cross-site scripting (XSS). Attackers can inject malicious scripts that execute in visitors' browsers when viewing compromised content. This affects all WordPress sites using RSS News Scroller versions up to 2.0.0.
💻 Affected Systems
- WordPress RSS News Scroller 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 inject persistent malicious scripts that steal session cookies, redirect users to phishing sites, or perform actions as authenticated users, potentially compromising the entire WordPress site.
Likely Case
Attackers inject malicious JavaScript that steals admin session cookies or redirects users to malicious sites when viewing compromised RSS feed content.
If Mitigated
With proper CSRF protections and content sanitization, the attack would fail to execute malicious payloads or store unauthorized content.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires social engineering to trick an authenticated admin into clicking a malicious link while logged in.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Version after 2.0.0
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find RSS News Scroller. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. If no update is available, deactivate and delete the plugin.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement CSRF Tokens
WordPressAdd CSRF protection tokens to all plugin forms and AJAX endpoints
Requires code modification - consult WordPress developer documentation for implementing nonces
Content Sanitization
WordPressImplement strict output escaping and content sanitization for RSS feed display
Use WordPress esc_* functions like esc_html(), esc_attr() in plugin templates
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Deactivate and remove the RSS News Scroller plugin immediately
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block CSRF attempts and XSS payloads
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins for RSS News Scroller version 2.0.0 or earlierCheck Version:
wp plugin list --name='rss-news-scroller' --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify plugin version is higher than 2.0.0 or plugin is completely removed📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to RSS News Scroller admin endpoints without referrer headers
- Multiple failed CSRF token validations
Network Indicators:
- Requests to plugin admin endpoints with suspicious parameters from unexpected referrers
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND "rss-news-scroller" AND ("POST" OR "admin-ajax.php") AND NOT referer="*your-domain*"