Overview
CVE-2025-13622 identifies a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability present in the Jabbernotification plugin for WordPress. This vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 0.99-RC2. It stems from insufficient input sanitization and output escaping within the plugin’s admin.php file when processing the PATH_INFO variable. This allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code into web pages, which can execute if a user interacts with a crafted link. Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this by tricking users into clicking a malicious link.
Technical Details
The vulnerability resides in the way the Jabbernotification plugin handles the PATH_INFO variable within the admin.php file. Specifically, the code at or around line 85 (as seen in the plugin’s source code) fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input passed through PATH_INFO. This input is then reflected back in the output without proper escaping, allowing an attacker to inject arbitrary HTML and JavaScript code. This injected code can then be executed by a victim’s browser when they access the manipulated URL.
The vulnerable code snippet is located (approximately) within these files:
Example Attack Vector:
An attacker might craft a URL similar to this:
http://example.com/wp-admin/admin.php/path/to/vulnerable/functionality<script>alert('XSS')</script>If the Jabbernotification plugin fails to sanitize the `<script>alert(‘XSS’)</script>` portion of the URL and echoes it back into the page, the JavaScript code will execute in the victim’s browser.
CVSS Analysis
- Severity: MEDIUM
- CVSS Score: 6.1
This score reflects the moderate risk associated with the vulnerability. While exploitation requires user interaction (clicking a malicious link), the impact can be significant, potentially allowing an attacker to hijack user sessions, deface the website, or redirect users to malicious sites.
Possible Impact
Successful exploitation of this XSS vulnerability can lead to a range of negative consequences, including:
- Account Takeover: An attacker could potentially steal a user’s session cookie and gain unauthorized access to their WordPress account.
- Website Defacement: Malicious scripts can be injected to alter the appearance and content of the website.
- Redirection to Malicious Sites: Users could be redirected to phishing sites or sites containing malware.
- Information Theft: Sensitive information displayed on the page could be harvested by the injected script.
Mitigation or Patch Steps
The most effective way to mitigate this vulnerability is to:
- Update the Jabbernotification plugin: Check the official WordPress plugin repository for a patched version of the plugin. If a patched version is available, immediately update the plugin.
- Remove the Plugin: If a patched version is not available or actively maintained, consider removing the plugin from your WordPress installation to eliminate the risk.
- Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF): A WAF can help to detect and block malicious requests targeting this and other vulnerabilities.
