CVE-2025-46496 Overview
CVE-2025-46496 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the oniswap Mini Twitter Feed WordPress plugin. The flaw affects all versions of mini-twitter-feed up to and including 3.0. Attackers with low-privileged authenticated access can inject malicious scripts that persist in the plugin's stored data. When other users, including administrators, view affected pages, the injected payload executes in their browser context. The vulnerability is tracked under [CWE-79], Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation.
Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers can inject persistent JavaScript payloads that execute against site visitors and administrators, enabling session hijacking, credential theft, and unauthorized WordPress actions.
Affected Products
- WordPress plugin: oniswap Mini Twitter Feed (mini-twitter-feed)
- All plugin versions from initial release through 3.0
- WordPress sites with the plugin installed and active
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-04-24 - CVE-2025-46496 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-46496
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of user-supplied input during web page generation. The Mini Twitter Feed plugin accepts input from an authenticated user and stores it without sufficient sanitization or output encoding. When the stored value is later rendered in a web page, the browser interprets injected HTML and JavaScript as executable content.
Stored XSS differs from reflected variants in persistence. The payload lives in the WordPress database and triggers on every page load that renders the affected field. This expands the attack surface to any user who visits the compromised view.
Exploitation requires authentication with low privileges and user interaction from the victim, such as viewing a page in the WordPress admin or a public-facing view. The scope change indicates that a successful attack can impact resources beyond the vulnerable component, including the broader WordPress session.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing or inadequate input sanitization and output escaping in the plugin's handling of user-controlled fields. WordPress provides functions such as wp_kses, esc_html, and esc_attr for context-aware escaping, but the plugin does not apply these controls consistently to the stored data path.
Attack Vector
An authenticated attacker submits a crafted payload containing HTML and JavaScript through an input field processed by the plugin. The plugin persists the value in the database. When a victim renders the affected page, the payload executes with the victim's session context.
Typical impact includes theft of authentication cookies, forced administrative actions via the victim's session, arbitrary redirects to attacker-controlled infrastructure, and injection of secondary payloads. Refer to the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Advisory for advisory details.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-46496
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected <script> tags, event handlers such as onerror or onload, or javascript: URIs in wp_options, wp_postmeta, or plugin-specific tables associated with mini-twitter-feed.
- Outbound browser requests from admin sessions to unfamiliar third-party domains that correlate with viewing plugin-rendered pages.
- New administrator accounts, changed user roles, or modified plugin/theme files created shortly after admin sessions viewed pages containing the plugin output.
Detection Strategies
- Inspect plugin-managed database rows for HTML tags, encoded script payloads, and suspicious attribute patterns using SQL queries against the WordPress database.
- Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule set that inspects POST bodies for XSS payloads targeting known plugin endpoints.
- Enable and review WordPress audit logs to correlate low-privileged user submissions with subsequent admin-side script execution.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Monitor WordPress admin sessions for anomalous outbound requests using browser telemetry and endpoint DNS logging.
- Alert on modifications to privileged user accounts, plugin files, and site options that occur outside change windows.
- Track plugin version inventory across WordPress fleets to identify hosts running mini-twitter-feed 3.0 or earlier.
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-46496
Immediate Actions Required
- Deactivate and remove the Mini Twitter Feed plugin from all WordPress installations until a patched version is confirmed available.
- Audit existing plugin data for injected script content and remove malicious entries from the WordPress database.
- Rotate administrator passwords and invalidate active sessions if the plugin has been in use with untrusted contributors.
Patch Information
At the time of publication, the advisory lists affected versions from n/a through 3.0 with no fixed version identified. Monitor the Patchstack advisory and the WordPress plugin repository for updates. Apply any vendor-released patch immediately upon publication.
Workarounds
- Restrict WordPress accounts to trusted users and enforce least-privilege role assignments to reduce the pool of potential authenticated attackers.
- Deploy a WAF with XSS filtering in front of the WordPress site to block payloads targeting plugin input handlers.
- Enable a strict Content Security Policy (CSP) that disallows inline scripts and untrusted script sources to limit payload execution.
# Example: deactivate the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate mini-twitter-feed
wp plugin delete mini-twitter-feed
# Example: search the database for suspicious script content
wp db query "SELECT option_name FROM wp_options WHERE option_value LIKE '%<script%';"
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
