CVE-2025-46450: OccupancyPlan CSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2025-46450 Overview

CVE-2025-46450 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the WordPress occupancyplan plugin developed by x000x. This security flaw allows attackers to chain CSRF with Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), enabling malicious actors to inject persistent scripts into the application when an authenticated administrator performs certain actions.

Critical Impact

This vulnerability allows attackers to exploit CSRF weaknesses to inject stored XSS payloads, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, and unauthorized administrative actions on affected WordPress sites.

Affected Products

• WordPress occupancyplan plugin versions up to and including 1.0.3.0
• All WordPress installations with the vulnerable plugin active

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-04-24 - CVE-2025-46450 published to NVD
• 2026-04-15 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-46450

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability combines two distinct attack vectors: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) and Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). The occupancyplan plugin fails to implement proper CSRF token validation on administrative forms, allowing attackers to craft malicious requests that execute actions on behalf of authenticated administrators. When combined with the lack of proper input sanitization, attackers can inject malicious JavaScript code that gets permanently stored in the database and executed whenever the affected page is viewed.

The CSRF component (CWE-352) enables the initial attack by bypassing the same-origin policy through forged requests. Once the CSRF protection is circumvented, the attacker can inject malicious scripts that persist in the application, affecting all users who subsequently access the compromised content.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is twofold: first, the plugin does not implement WordPress nonce verification for form submissions, leaving administrative actions vulnerable to CSRF attacks. Second, user-supplied input is not properly sanitized or escaped before being stored in the database and rendered in the browser, enabling stored XSS injection.

Attack Vector

The attack requires social engineering to trick an authenticated WordPress administrator into visiting a malicious webpage or clicking a crafted link. The attacker's page contains a hidden form that automatically submits a request to the vulnerable plugin endpoint, carrying malicious JavaScript payload. Since the administrator's browser includes their session cookies with the request, the plugin processes the request as legitimate and stores the XSS payload.

The attack typically unfolds in the following sequence:

1. Attacker crafts a malicious HTML page containing an auto-submitting form targeting the occupancyplan plugin endpoint
2. Attacker entices an authenticated WordPress administrator to visit the malicious page
3. The form automatically submits with the administrator's credentials, bypassing CSRF protections
4. The malicious JavaScript payload is stored in the WordPress database
5. When any user views the affected page, the stored XSS payload executes in their browser context

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-46450

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected JavaScript code appearing in occupancyplan plugin data fields or database entries
• Unusual administrative actions logged without corresponding administrator activity
• JavaScript errors or unexpected behavior on pages displaying occupancyplan content
• Reports of users being redirected to external sites or experiencing session issues

Detection Strategies

• Review WordPress database tables associated with the occupancyplan plugin for suspicious script tags or JavaScript content
• Monitor HTTP access logs for POST requests to occupancyplan endpoints from external referrers
• Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to detect and block unauthorized script execution
• Use WordPress security plugins to scan for stored XSS payloads and unauthorized content modifications

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable WordPress audit logging to track all administrative actions and form submissions
• Configure web application firewalls (WAF) to detect CSRF and XSS attack patterns targeting WordPress plugins
• Set up alerts for database modifications to occupancyplan-related tables outside of normal administrative workflows
• Regularly review access logs for suspicious referrer headers on administrative endpoints

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-46450

Immediate Actions Required

• Deactivate and remove the occupancyplan plugin immediately if not critical to operations
• Audit all data stored by the plugin for malicious JavaScript content and remove any identified payloads
• Reset administrator sessions and credentials if compromise is suspected
• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests to occupancyplan endpoints containing script tags

Patch Information

As of the published CVE data, all versions of the occupancyplan plugin through 1.0.3.0 are affected. Users should check the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for the latest patch availability and upgrade instructions. If no patch is available, consider using an alternative plugin with active security maintenance.

Workarounds

• Restrict access to the WordPress admin panel to trusted IP addresses only
• Implement additional CSRF protection at the server or WAF level for all plugin form submissions
• Use browser-based XSS protection extensions for administrators accessing the WordPress dashboard
• Consider implementing a Content Security Policy (CSP) header to mitigate the impact of stored XSS payloads

# Example: Add Content-Security-Policy header in Apache .htaccess
# This helps mitigate XSS impact by restricting script sources
Header set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline';"