CVE-2025-23508: Extra Options Favicons CSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2025-23508 Overview

A Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability has been identified in the OrigoThemes Extra Options – Favicons WordPress plugin that can be chained with Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). This vulnerability allows attackers to trick authenticated administrators into performing unintended actions, ultimately enabling the injection of malicious scripts that persist in the WordPress database and execute in visitors' browsers.

Critical Impact

Attackers can exploit this CSRF-to-Stored-XSS chain to inject persistent malicious JavaScript code into WordPress sites, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, website defacement, and malware distribution to site visitors.

Affected Products

• Extra Options – Favicons plugin version 1.1.0 and earlier
• WordPress installations running the vulnerable plugin versions
• All users and visitors of affected WordPress sites

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-01-16 - CVE CVE-2025-23508 published to NVD
• 2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-23508

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a dangerous attack chain combining two distinct web security flaws. The Extra Options – Favicons plugin fails to implement proper CSRF token validation on its administrative functions, while simultaneously lacking adequate output encoding for user-supplied input. This dual failure allows an attacker to first bypass the same-origin policy protections through CSRF, then leverage the resulting access to inject persistent XSS payloads into the plugin's favicon configuration settings.

The stored nature of the XSS component makes this vulnerability particularly severe. Once the malicious payload is injected, it executes every time an administrator accesses the affected settings page or when the compromised favicon data is rendered on the frontend, creating persistent attack opportunities without requiring continued attacker interaction.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability lies in the plugin's failure to implement two critical security controls:

1. Missing CSRF Token Validation: The plugin does not verify WordPress nonce tokens on state-changing administrative requests, allowing attackers to forge requests on behalf of authenticated administrators.

2. Insufficient Input Sanitization: User-supplied data stored in favicon configuration options is not properly sanitized or escaped before being rendered in HTML contexts, enabling script injection.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and requires user interaction in the form of an authenticated WordPress administrator clicking a malicious link or visiting an attacker-controlled page. The attack flow typically proceeds as follows:

1. The attacker crafts a malicious HTML page containing a hidden form that targets the vulnerable plugin endpoint
2. The form contains XSS payloads in the favicon configuration fields
3. When an authenticated administrator visits the attacker's page, JavaScript automatically submits the form
4. The plugin processes the request without CSRF validation and stores the malicious payload
5. The stored XSS payload executes whenever the affected page is loaded

Due to no verified code examples being available for this vulnerability, site administrators should review the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for detailed technical information about the exploitation mechanism.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-23508

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected modifications to favicon settings in the WordPress database
• Presence of <script> tags or JavaScript event handlers in favicon-related configuration options
• Unusual outbound connections from administrator browsers when accessing plugin settings
• Reports of browser security warnings when visiting plugin administration pages

Detection Strategies

• Monitor WordPress database tables for suspicious script content in plugin options
• Review web server access logs for unusual POST requests to the plugin's settings endpoints
• Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to detect and block inline script execution attempts
• Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules to identify XSS payloads in HTTP requests

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable WordPress audit logging to track configuration changes to the Extra Options – Favicons plugin
• Configure alerts for any modifications to favicon-related database entries
• Monitor administrator session activity for signs of session hijacking following potential XSS execution
• Regularly scan plugin configuration for embedded JavaScript or HTML injection

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-23508

Immediate Actions Required

• Immediately review the Extra Options – Favicons plugin settings for any suspicious content or unexpected script injections
• Temporarily disable the Extra Options – Favicons plugin until a patched version is available
• Audit WordPress administrator accounts for signs of unauthorized access or session compromise
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with CSRF and XSS protection rules

Patch Information

As of the last available information, the vulnerability affects Extra Options – Favicons plugin version 1.1.0 and earlier. Site administrators should check the WordPress plugin repository or contact OrigoThemes directly for information about patched versions. Refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for the latest remediation guidance.

Workarounds

• Remove or deactivate the Extra Options – Favicons plugin entirely until a security update is released
• Implement Content Security Policy headers to mitigate the impact of potential XSS execution
• Restrict access to the WordPress admin panel to trusted IP addresses only
• Educate administrators about the risks of clicking untrusted links while logged into WordPress

# Add CSP headers to Apache configuration (.htaccess)
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header set Content-Security-Policy "script-src 'self'; object-src 'none';"
    Header set X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"
    Header set X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff"
</IfModule>