CVE-2025-23805 Overview
CVE-2025-23805 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability affecting the SEOReseller Partner (sr-partner) WordPress plugin developed by itamarg. The flaw exists in all plugin versions up to and including 1.3.15. According to the Patchstack advisory, the CSRF condition chains into stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), allowing an attacker to persist malicious script content inside the WordPress site by tricking an authenticated user into visiting a crafted page.
Critical Impact
An attacker can coerce an authenticated WordPress user into submitting attacker-controlled requests, leading to stored XSS that executes in the browsers of subsequent site visitors.
Affected Products
- SEOReseller Partner WordPress plugin (sr-partner) versions up to and including 1.3.15
- WordPress sites with the plugin installed and active
- Any administrator or privileged user session interacting with the plugin
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-01-16 - CVE-2025-23805 published to NVD
- 2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-23805
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability is classified under [CWE-352] Cross-Site Request Forgery. The sr-partner plugin processes state-changing requests without verifying a valid anti-CSRF token (such as a WordPress nonce) tied to the authenticated user session. As a result, an attacker can craft an external HTML page that submits a forged request to a vulnerable plugin endpoint when visited by an authenticated user.
The Patchstack advisory characterizes this as a CSRF-to-stored-XSS chain. The forged request injects attacker-supplied content into plugin-managed storage without proper sanitization or output encoding. When that stored content is later rendered in the WordPress admin area or front end, the injected JavaScript executes in the victim's browser context.
The network attack vector requires user interaction, which is satisfied when a logged-in user loads the attacker's page. The scope is changed because injected scripts execute outside the original vulnerable component and affect other site users.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing or insufficient CSRF protection on plugin request handlers, combined with inadequate input validation on fields that ultimately render as HTML. WordPress provides nonce primitives (wp_create_nonce, check_admin_referer, wp_verify_nonce) for CSRF mitigation, but the affected plugin code paths in versions through 1.3.15 do not consistently enforce them.
Attack Vector
An attacker hosts a malicious page containing a hidden form or JavaScript that auto-submits a request to the target WordPress site. When an administrator with an active session visits the page, the browser attaches the session cookie and the request executes with the administrator's privileges. The injected payload is stored by the plugin and later served to other users, completing the stored XSS condition.
No verified public exploit code is available for this issue. Refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for additional technical context.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-23805
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected <script>, <iframe>, or event-handler attributes (onerror, onload) present in plugin-managed settings or content fields
- WordPress admin sessions originating from unusual referrers immediately followed by plugin configuration changes
- New or modified WordPress users, options, or plugin records created without a corresponding admin-initiated workflow
Detection Strategies
- Audit the WordPress database for stored plugin records containing HTML or JavaScript markup that should not be present in configuration fields
- Monitor HTTP access logs for POST requests to sr-partner plugin endpoints lacking a same-origin Referer or Origin header
- Review the installed version of the SEOReseller Partner plugin and flag any instance at or below 1.3.15
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable WordPress audit logging to capture plugin setting changes with timestamp, user, and source IP
- Alert on Content Security Policy (CSP) violations reported by browsers visiting the WordPress site
- Continuously inventory installed WordPress plugins and correlate versions against published vulnerability feeds such as Patchstack
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-23805
Immediate Actions Required
- Identify all WordPress installations with the SEOReseller Partner (sr-partner) plugin and confirm the installed version
- Update the plugin to a version newer than 1.3.15 once the vendor publishes a fixed release, or deactivate and remove it if no patch is available
- Force logout of all active WordPress administrator sessions and require password resets if compromise is suspected
- Inspect plugin-managed content and configuration for injected scripts and remove any unauthorized payloads
Patch Information
At the time of NVD publication, the advisory lists all versions through 1.3.15 as affected. Administrators should monitor the Patchstack Vulnerability Report and the plugin's WordPress.org listing for an updated release that adds nonce validation and proper output escaping.
Workarounds
- Deactivate the SEOReseller Partner plugin until a patched version is released
- Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) rule that requires a valid same-origin Referer header on plugin POST endpoints
- Apply a strict Content Security Policy that disallows inline scripts to limit the impact of stored XSS payloads
- Restrict WordPress admin access to known IP ranges and enforce multi-factor authentication on privileged accounts
# Example: list and deactivate the affected plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin list --name=sr-partner --fields=name,status,version
wp plugin deactivate sr-partner
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
