CVE-2025-24655: Wishlist Plugin Reflected XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-24655 Overview

CVE-2025-24655 is a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting the PickPlugins Wishlist plugin for WordPress. The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of input during web page generation, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts that execute in the context of a victim's browser session.

This vulnerability affects the Wishlist plugin through version 1.0.39 and represents a significant risk to WordPress sites utilizing this e-commerce wishlist functionality. An attacker can craft malicious URLs containing JavaScript payloads that, when clicked by an authenticated user, execute arbitrary scripts in the user's browser context.

Critical Impact

Attackers can execute arbitrary JavaScript in victims' browsers, potentially stealing session cookies, performing actions on behalf of users, or redirecting users to malicious sites.

Affected Products

• PickPlugins Wishlist WordPress Plugin versions up to and including 1.0.39
• WordPress installations running vulnerable Wishlist plugin versions
• E-commerce sites utilizing Wishlist functionality for product management

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-04-17 - CVE-2025-24655 published to NVD
• 2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-24655

Vulnerability Analysis

This Reflected XSS vulnerability (CWE-79) occurs when user-supplied input is improperly sanitized before being included in dynamically generated web pages. The Wishlist plugin fails to adequately neutralize special characters and script tags in input parameters, allowing attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code that gets reflected back to the user's browser.

The vulnerability requires user interaction—specifically, a victim must click on a crafted malicious link. Once clicked, the malicious script executes within the security context of the vulnerable WordPress site, inheriting all permissions and access tokens associated with the victim's session. This can lead to session hijacking, credential theft, or unauthorized actions performed on behalf of the victim.

The network-accessible nature of this vulnerability combined with its scope-changing capability means that successful exploitation can impact resources beyond the vulnerable component itself, potentially affecting user data integrity and confidentiality across the WordPress installation.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-24655 is inadequate input validation and output encoding within the Wishlist plugin. The plugin fails to properly sanitize user-controllable input before rendering it in HTML output, violating secure coding practices for web applications. This absence of proper escaping functions allows HTML special characters and JavaScript code to be interpreted as executable content rather than displayed as plain text.

WordPress provides built-in sanitization functions such as esc_html(), esc_attr(), and wp_kses() that should be applied to all user input before output. The vulnerable code paths in the Wishlist plugin do not consistently apply these protections.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this Reflected XSS vulnerability involves crafting a malicious URL containing JavaScript payload in one or more request parameters. The attacker then distributes this URL through social engineering techniques such as phishing emails, malicious links in comments, or compromised websites.

When a victim clicks the link, their browser sends the request to the vulnerable WordPress site, which reflects the malicious payload back in the response without proper sanitization. The victim's browser then executes the injected JavaScript in the context of the WordPress domain.

The vulnerability is exploitable over the network and requires no authentication from the attacker's perspective. However, user interaction (clicking the malicious link) is required for successful exploitation. The potential impact includes theft of session cookies, defacement of pages visible to the victim, redirection to phishing sites, or execution of unauthorized actions using the victim's authenticated session.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-24655

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual URL parameters containing encoded JavaScript or HTML tags in wishlist-related requests
• Web server logs showing requests with <script>, javascript:, or encoded equivalents in query strings
• Browser console errors indicating blocked inline script execution (if CSP is enabled)
• Reports from users about unexpected behavior or redirects when accessing wishlist functionality

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block common XSS payloads in request parameters
• Enable Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to prevent execution of inline scripts and report violations
• Monitor web application logs for suspicious patterns including encoded script tags and event handlers
• Implement real-time security scanning solutions that can identify XSS attempts in incoming requests

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure logging to capture full request URLs including query parameters for wishlist endpoints
• Set up alerts for detection of common XSS indicators in web traffic logs
• Regularly review WordPress security plugin reports for vulnerability notifications
• Monitor Patchstack and WordPress security advisories for updates related to installed plugins

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-24655

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the PickPlugins Wishlist plugin to the latest patched version immediately
• Temporarily disable the Wishlist plugin if an update is not available and the functionality is not critical
• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to filter XSS payloads targeting the WordPress installation
• Review server logs for evidence of exploitation attempts and investigate any suspicious activity

Patch Information

Administrators should check the Patchstack vulnerability database for the latest patch information and update to a version of the Wishlist plugin that addresses this vulnerability. The plugin can be updated through the WordPress admin dashboard under Plugins > Installed Plugins, or manually by downloading the latest version from the WordPress plugin repository.

Workarounds

• Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict script execution sources and mitigate XSS impact
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall with rules targeting XSS patterns in WordPress plugin request paths
• Restrict access to wishlist functionality to authenticated users only if appropriate for your use case
• Consider using alternative wishlist plugins with better security track records while awaiting a patch

# Add Content Security Policy headers to Apache configuration
# Add to .htaccess or virtual host configuration
Header set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; object-src 'none'; frame-ancestors 'self'"

# For Nginx, add to server block
# add_header Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; object-src 'none'; frame-ancestors 'self'";