CVE-2025-39418
📋 TL;DR
A Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the ajayver RSS Manager WordPress plugin allows attackers to inject malicious scripts that become stored cross-site scripting (XSS). This affects WordPress sites using RSS Manager plugin versions up to 0.06, potentially compromising site visitors and administrators.
💻 Affected Systems
- WordPress RSS Manager plugin by ajayver
⚠️ 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 administrator credentials, deface websites, redirect visitors to malicious sites, or install backdoors on the WordPress installation.
Likely Case
Attackers trick administrators into clicking malicious links that inject JavaScript payloads, leading to session hijacking, content manipulation, or malware distribution to site visitors.
If Mitigated
With proper CSRF tokens and input validation, the attack vector is blocked, preventing unauthorized script injection even if administrators are tricked into clicking malicious links.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires social engineering to trick authenticated users. The CSRF-to-stored-XSS chain makes this particularly dangerous as payloads persist.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 0.07 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://patchstack.com/database/wordpress/plugin/rss-manager/vulnerability/wordpress-rss-manager-plugin-0-06-csrf-to-stored-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'RSS Manager' and update to version 0.07 or later. 4. If update not available, deactivate and delete the plugin immediately.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable RSS Manager Plugin
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable plugin until patched version is available
wp plugin deactivate rss-manager
Implement CSRF Protection Headers
linuxAdd security headers to WordPress to help mitigate CSRF attacks
Add to .htaccess: Header set X-Frame-Options "DENY"
Add to .htaccess: Header set Content-Security-Policy "frame-ancestors 'none'"
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Remove RSS Manager plugin completely and use alternative RSS management solutions
- Implement strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to block inline script execution
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Installed Plugins for RSS Manager version. If version is 0.06 or earlier, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get rss-manager --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify RSS Manager plugin shows version 0.07 or later in WordPress admin plugins list.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to RSS Manager admin endpoints
- Multiple failed CSRF token validations
- Unexpected JavaScript injection in RSS feed content
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests with suspicious parameters to /wp-admin/admin.php?page=rss-manager
- Unexpected iframe or script tags in RSS feed responses
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND (uri_path="/wp-admin/admin.php" AND uri_query="page=rss-manager") AND http_method="POST"