CVE-2025-23569
📋 TL;DR
A CSRF vulnerability in the Kelvin Ng Shortcode in Comment WordPress plugin allows attackers to trick authenticated users into executing malicious actions, leading to stored cross-site scripting (XSS). This affects WordPress sites using the plugin version 1.1.1 or earlier. Attackers can inject malicious scripts that execute when other users view compromised comments.
💻 Affected Systems
- WordPress Shortcode in Comment plugin by Kelvin Ng
⚠️ 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 into comments, compromising all users who view them, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or site defacement.
Likely Case
Attackers trick administrators or editors into submitting malicious shortcodes via CSRF, resulting in stored XSS that affects regular users viewing comments.
If Mitigated
With proper CSRF protections and content sanitization, the attack would fail or have minimal impact.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires tricking authenticated users with comment submission privileges via CSRF, then stored XSS executes for other users.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Version after 1.1.1
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Shortcode in Comment' plugin. 4. Update to the latest version if available, or remove if no update exists. 5. Verify update completes successfully.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable plugin
WordPressTemporarily deactivate the Shortcode in Comment plugin to eliminate the vulnerability.
wp plugin deactivate shortcode-in-comment
Implement CSRF tokens
allAdd CSRF protection to comment submission forms if custom development is possible.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable the Shortcode in Comment plugin immediately.
- Restrict comment submission to trusted users only and monitor for suspicious activity.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel under Plugins > Installed Plugins for 'Shortcode in Comment' version 1.1.1 or earlier.Check Version:
wp plugin get shortcode-in-comment --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm the plugin is updated to a version after 1.1.1 or is deactivated.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual comment submissions from authenticated users, especially with script tags or encoded payloads in shortcodes.
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests to comment submission endpoints without proper referrer headers or CSRF tokens.
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("comment_post" OR "wp-comments-post.php") AND ("script" OR "onerror" OR "javascript:")