CVE-2025-39525: Logo Carousel Slider Stored XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-39525 Overview

CVE-2025-39525 is a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the wpWax Logo Carousel Slider WordPress plugin. The flaw affects all versions of logo-carousel-slider up to and including 2.1.3. Authenticated users with low-privilege access can inject malicious scripts that persist in the database and execute in the browsers of other users who view the affected page. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-79 for improper neutralization of input during web page generation.

Critical Impact
Attackers with low-privilege authenticated access can inject persistent JavaScript payloads that execute against site visitors and administrators, enabling session theft, account takeover, and unauthorized administrative actions.

Affected Products

wpWax Logo Carousel Slider WordPress plugin (logo-carousel-slider)
All versions from initial release through 2.1.3
WordPress installations with the vulnerable plugin activated

Discovery Timeline

2025-04-16 - CVE-2025-39525 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-39525

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of user-supplied input in the Logo Carousel Slider plugin. The plugin fails to sanitize or encode input before rendering it in generated web pages. Attackers store malicious JavaScript through plugin-exposed input fields, and the payload executes whenever a user loads a page containing the injected content.

Exploitation requires authenticated access with low privileges and user interaction to trigger the stored payload. The attack scope changes when triggered, meaning the injected script executes in a security context beyond the vulnerable component. This crosses trust boundaries between the plugin and the broader WordPress site.

A successful attack can steal session cookies, perform actions on behalf of authenticated administrators, redirect visitors to attacker-controlled infrastructure, or deliver secondary payloads. Because the payload is stored server-side, every subsequent page view can retrigger the attack without additional interaction from the attacker.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing output encoding and input sanitization in fields processed by the plugin. Data submitted by contributors or higher-privileged users is written directly to the database and later reflected in generated HTML without escaping through WordPress functions such as esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses(). This omission allows arbitrary HTML and JavaScript to persist and render as executable content.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires low-privilege authentication. An attacker submits a crafted payload through a plugin input field that lacks proper sanitization. The payload is stored in the WordPress database. When any user, including administrators, views the page containing the injected content, the browser executes the malicious script under the site's origin.

Refer to the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Report for additional technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-39525

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected <script> tags, event handlers such as onerror or onload, or javascript: URIs stored in Logo Carousel Slider post meta or plugin option tables
Outbound requests from browsers to unfamiliar domains after loading pages that render logo carousels
New or modified WordPress administrator accounts appearing shortly after low-privileged user activity
Session cookies transmitted to third-party endpoints in web server or proxy logs

Detection Strategies

Audit WordPress database tables (wp_posts, wp_postmeta, wp_options) for HTML or JavaScript content associated with the plugin
Deploy web application firewall rules that flag script tags and event handler attributes in POST requests to plugin endpoints
Correlate low-privilege authenticated sessions with subsequent administrator activity across authentication and application logs

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable Content Security Policy (CSP) reporting to capture unauthorized inline script execution attempts
Monitor plugin file integrity and detect version drift on the logo-carousel-slider directory
Alert on WordPress role changes, new administrator creation, and modifications to plugin options

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-39525

Immediate Actions Required

Deactivate the Logo Carousel Slider plugin until a patched version is installed and verified
Restrict contributor, author, and editor account creation and audit existing low-privileged accounts
Review all pages rendered by the plugin for injected script content and remove malicious payloads from the database
Rotate credentials and invalidate active sessions for accounts that accessed compromised pages

Patch Information

At the time of the NVD entry, versions through 2.1.3 are affected. Site administrators should consult the Patchstack advisory and the plugin vendor's WordPress.org page for the latest fixed release, then update to a version beyond 2.1.3 once available.

Workarounds

Remove or disable the plugin entirely if a patched version is not yet available
Enforce a strict Content Security Policy that prohibits inline scripts and untrusted script sources
Apply web application firewall rules that block XSS payload patterns targeting the plugin's input parameters
Limit low-privilege account permissions and require multi-factor authentication for all authenticated users

bash

# Example: disable the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate logo-carousel-slider
wp plugin delete logo-carousel-slider