CVE-2025-24731: IP2Location Country Blocker XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-24731 Overview

CVE-2025-24731 is a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the IP2Location Country Blocker WordPress plugin. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 2.38.3. An authenticated attacker with high privileges can inject persistent JavaScript payloads that execute in the browsers of users who view the affected pages. The vulnerability is classified under [CWE-79] for improper neutralization of input during web page generation. Exploitation requires user interaction and results in a scope change, meaning injected scripts can affect components beyond the vulnerable plugin.

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers can inject persistent JavaScript into plugin-rendered pages, hijacking administrator sessions and executing actions in the context of victim users.

Affected Products

IP2Location Country Blocker WordPress plugin versions up to and including 2.38.3
WordPress sites with the ip2location-country-blocker plugin installed
Administrative interfaces exposed through the plugin's configuration pages

Discovery Timeline

2025-01-24 - CVE CVE-2025-24731 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-24731

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of user-supplied input rendered within plugin-generated web pages. The IP2Location Country Blocker plugin fails to sanitize or encode input before persisting it and reflecting it back into the WordPress administrative interface. When a privileged user submits crafted data through a vulnerable input field, the payload is stored in the WordPress database. The stored payload executes when any user renders the affected page in a browser.

Because the vulnerability produces a scope change, injected scripts can operate outside the plugin's own security context. This allows an attacker to target broader WordPress administrative functionality from within the plugin's rendered output.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing output encoding and input sanitization in the plugin's request handling logic. User-controlled values reach the HTML response without escaping through WordPress functions such as esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses(). Persistent storage of the unsanitized input results in stored rather than reflected XSS behavior.

Attack Vector

An attacker requires an authenticated account with high privileges, typically an administrator role, to reach the vulnerable input handler. The attacker submits a crafted request containing a JavaScript payload through the plugin's configuration interface. A separate user must then visit the affected page for the payload to trigger, satisfying the user interaction requirement. Successful exploitation permits session token theft, forced administrative actions, and injection of secondary payloads such as backdoor plugin uploads.

No verified proof-of-concept code is publicly available. See the Patchstack XSS Vulnerability Advisory for additional technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-24731

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected <script> tags, event handlers, or JavaScript URIs stored in WordPress wp_options rows related to the plugin
Administrator sessions performing actions from unusual IP addresses shortly after visiting plugin configuration pages
New administrator accounts or plugin installations created without corresponding audit trail from a known admin

Detection Strategies

Inspect plugin-related database entries for HTML or JavaScript content that should be plain text configuration values
Review web server access logs for POST requests to admin.php endpoints handling the ip2location-country-blocker plugin with payloads containing script tags or encoded variants
Monitor Content Security Policy (CSP) violation reports from WordPress administrator sessions for inline script execution

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable WordPress audit logging to capture plugin configuration changes and correlate with the acting user account
Alert on outbound HTTP requests from administrator browsers to unfamiliar domains, indicating potential token exfiltration
Track privilege changes and new account creation events for anomalous patterns following plugin page views

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-24731

Immediate Actions Required

Update the IP2Location Country Blocker plugin to a version later than 2.38.3 once available from the vendor
Restrict administrator access to trusted personnel and enforce multi-factor authentication on all privileged WordPress accounts
Audit existing plugin configuration values for injected script content and remove any unauthorized payloads

Patch Information

At the time of publication, the vendor advisory tracked through Patchstack lists all versions through 2.38.3 as affected. Administrators should monitor the plugin repository for a fixed release and apply updates promptly.

Workarounds

Deactivate and remove the IP2Location Country Blocker plugin until a patched version is released if country-based blocking is not operationally required
Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) rule to strip or block script tags and JavaScript event handlers submitted to plugin admin endpoints
Implement a strict Content Security Policy that disallows inline script execution within the WordPress administrative interface

bash

# Example WordPress CLI command to disable the plugin pending a patch
wp plugin deactivate ip2location-country-blocker
wp plugin delete ip2location-country-blocker