CVE-2025-31061: Wishlist Plugin XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-31061 Overview

CVE-2025-31061 is a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting the Wishlist plugin for WordPress developed by redqteam. The vulnerability arises from improper neutralization of user input during web page generation, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts that execute in the context of a victim's browser session.

Critical Impact

This reflected XSS vulnerability can enable attackers to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, deface web pages, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users without their consent.

Affected Products

• WordPress Wishlist Plugin by redqteam versions through 2.1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-06-09 - CVE-2025-31061 published to NVD
• 2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-31061

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation). The Wishlist plugin fails to properly sanitize, validate, or encode user-supplied input before reflecting it back in the HTTP response. When a user clicks on a specially crafted URL containing malicious JavaScript, the payload is executed within their browser in the context of the vulnerable WordPress site.

The attack requires user interaction (clicking a malicious link), but the scope extends beyond the vulnerable component, potentially affecting user sessions and data across the entire WordPress installation. The vulnerability can result in limited compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-31061 is insufficient input validation and output encoding within the Wishlist plugin's request handling mechanism. User-controllable input parameters are directly reflected in HTTP responses without proper sanitization, enabling attackers to inject arbitrary HTML and JavaScript code.

WordPress plugins that accept GET or POST parameters and display them on pages without escaping special characters using functions like esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses() are susceptible to this type of vulnerability.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based, requiring an attacker to craft a malicious URL containing JavaScript payload and entice a victim to click the link. This is typically accomplished through phishing emails, social engineering, or embedding the malicious link in attacker-controlled content.

When the victim clicks the crafted URL while authenticated to the WordPress site, the malicious script executes with their session privileges. This can lead to session hijacking, credential theft, or unauthorized actions performed on behalf of the victim.

The exploitation mechanism involves embedding JavaScript code within URL parameters that the Wishlist plugin processes and reflects without sanitization. For detailed technical analysis, refer to the Patchstack security advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-31061

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual URL patterns in web server access logs containing encoded JavaScript or HTML tags in Wishlist plugin parameters
• User reports of unexpected redirects or browser behavior when interacting with wishlist functionality
• Session anomalies or unauthorized actions attributed to authenticated user accounts

Detection Strategies

• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block reflected XSS payload patterns in incoming requests
• Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to mitigate the impact of successful XSS exploitation
• Monitor access logs for requests containing suspicious characters such as <script>, javascript:, or encoded variants targeting the Wishlist plugin endpoints

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable real-time alerting on WAF rule triggers related to XSS attack patterns
• Conduct regular security audits of WordPress plugin logs and user activity
• Implement browser-side monitoring for unexpected script execution or DOM modifications

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-31061

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the WordPress Wishlist plugin to a patched version if available, or deactivate the plugin until a fix is released
• Implement WAF rules to filter requests containing XSS payloads targeting the Wishlist plugin
• Review Content Security Policy headers and strengthen them to restrict inline script execution

Patch Information

WordPress site administrators should monitor the Patchstack vulnerability database and the official WordPress plugin repository for security updates to the Wishlist plugin. Version 2.1.0 and all prior versions are affected by this vulnerability.

Workarounds

• Temporarily deactivate the Wishlist plugin if it is not critical to site operations
• Implement strict Content Security Policy headers to prevent inline script execution
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall with XSS protection rules enabled

# Example: Add Content Security Policy header in .htaccess
# Add to WordPress root .htaccess file
Header set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline';"