CVE-2025-14453: WordPress My Album Gallery XSS Flaw

CVE-2025-14453 Overview

The My Album Gallery plugin for WordPress contains a Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the style_css shortcode attribute affecting all versions up to and including 1.0.4. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input sanitization and output escaping, allowing authenticated attackers with Contributor-level access or higher to inject arbitrary web scripts into pages. These malicious scripts execute whenever any user accesses the compromised page, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or further attacks against site visitors.

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers can inject persistent malicious scripts that execute in the browsers of all users visiting affected pages, enabling session hijacking, credential theft, and malware distribution.

Affected Products

My Album Gallery WordPress Plugin version 1.0.4 and earlier
WordPress installations using vulnerable versions of My Album Gallery plugin

Discovery Timeline

2026-01-07 - CVE-2025-14453 published to NVD
2026-01-08 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-14453

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation), commonly known as Cross-Site Scripting. The flaw exists in the shortcode processing functionality of the My Album Gallery plugin, specifically within the class-mygallery-shortcode.php file at line 121.

When users with Contributor-level privileges or above create content using the plugin's shortcode functionality, the style_css attribute accepts user-supplied input that is not properly sanitized before being rendered in the page output. Because this is a Stored XSS vulnerability, the malicious payload persists in the database and executes for every user who views the affected page, making it particularly dangerous for multi-user WordPress environments.

The attack can be executed remotely over the network and requires no user interaction beyond viewing the compromised page. The scope is changed, meaning the vulnerable component (the WordPress plugin) can impact resources beyond its security scope, affecting the broader WordPress site and its visitors.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is insufficient input sanitization and output escaping in the plugin's shortcode handler. The style_css shortcode attribute is processed without adequate validation, allowing arbitrary HTML and JavaScript content to pass through to the rendered page. Proper escaping functions such as esc_attr(), esc_html(), or wp_kses() were not applied to user-controlled input before output, creating the conditions for script injection.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and requires the attacker to have authenticated access to the WordPress site with at least Contributor-level privileges. The attacker crafts a malicious shortcode containing JavaScript payloads within the style_css attribute and publishes it within a post or page. When any user—including administrators—views the page containing the injected shortcode, the malicious script executes in their browser context with full access to their session cookies and page DOM.

This attack vector is particularly effective against WordPress sites that allow multiple contributors, as any compromised or malicious contributor account can be leveraged to target administrators and other high-privilege users.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-14453

Indicators of Compromise

Unusual JavaScript code or encoded scripts within WordPress post content containing My Album Gallery shortcodes
Unexpected <script> tags or event handlers (e.g., onerror, onload) within the style_css attribute of gallery shortcodes
Browser console errors or unexpected network requests when viewing gallery pages
Reports of suspicious redirects or pop-ups from users visiting gallery pages

Detection Strategies

Review WordPress database content for posts containing My Album Gallery shortcodes with suspicious style_css attribute values
Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect XSS patterns in shortcode attributes
Audit contributor and author-level user activity logs for suspicious post modifications
Use WordPress security plugins to scan for malicious content in posts and pages

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable detailed logging for WordPress post creation and modification events
Monitor for Content Security Policy (CSP) violation reports that may indicate XSS attempts
Regularly audit posts containing plugin shortcodes for unauthorized script injections
Track user sessions for anomalous behavior that could indicate session hijacking

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-14453

Immediate Actions Required

Update the My Album Gallery plugin to a patched version when available from the WordPress plugin repository
Review all existing posts and pages using My Album Gallery shortcodes for malicious content
Temporarily disable the My Album Gallery plugin if an update is not yet available
Audit and restrict Contributor-level access until the vulnerability is remediated

Patch Information

Monitor the official WordPress plugin repository for an updated version of My Album Gallery that addresses this vulnerability. The vulnerable code is located in controllers/public/class-mygallery-shortcode.php at line 121. For detailed technical analysis, refer to the WordPress Plugin File Source and the Wordfence Vulnerability Report.

Workarounds

Remove or deactivate the My Album Gallery plugin until a security patch is released
Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules to block common XSS patterns in form submissions
Restrict user registration and remove untrusted contributor accounts
Add Content Security Policy headers to limit script execution to trusted sources

bash

# WordPress configuration - Add to wp-config.php or theme functions.php
# Implement Content Security Policy headers to mitigate XSS impact
# Note: Adjust 'self' and trusted domains as needed for your environment
header("Content-Security-Policy: script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' *.wordpress.org;");