CVE-2025-23499
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in the Pascal Casier Board Election WordPress plugin allows attackers to perform Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks that lead to Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). Attackers can trick authenticated administrators into executing malicious actions that inject persistent scripts into the website. All WordPress sites using affected versions of this plugin are vulnerable.
💻 Affected Systems
- Pascal Casier Board Election 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 inject malicious JavaScript that steals administrator credentials, defaces websites, redirects visitors to malicious sites, or installs backdoors for persistent access.
Likely Case
Attackers create fake forms or links that trick logged-in administrators into unknowingly injecting malicious scripts into the website, which then execute in visitors' browsers.
If Mitigated
With proper CSRF tokens and input validation, the attack chain would be broken at the initial CSRF stage, preventing the XSS payload from being stored.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires tricking an authenticated administrator into performing an action, but the attack chain from CSRF to stored XSS is well-documented.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Versions after 1.0.1
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Board Election' plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if update available. 5. If no update available, deactivate and delete the plugin immediately.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement CSRF Protection
WordPressAdd nonce verification to all plugin forms and actions to prevent CSRF attacks.
Requires code modification: Add wp_nonce_field() to forms and wp_verify_nonce() checks to form handlers
Input Sanitization
WordPressImplement proper output escaping and input validation for all user-controllable data.
Use esc_html(), esc_attr(), wp_kses() functions for output escaping
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable or remove the Board Election plugin completely
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block CSRF and XSS patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Installed Plugins for Board Election plugin version 1.0.1 or earlierCheck Version:
wp plugin list --name='board-election' --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify plugin version is higher than 1.0.1 or plugin is completely removed📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to board-election plugin endpoints
- Administrator actions from unexpected IP addresses or user-agents
Network Indicators:
- CSRF attack patterns in web traffic
- Malicious JavaScript injection in plugin-related requests
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("board-election" OR "wp-admin/admin-ajax.php") AND (POST OR "action=")