CVE-2025-47611: User Meta Plugin Reflected XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-47611 Overview

CVE-2025-47611 is a reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Khaled User Meta plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all versions of the user-meta plugin up to and including version 3.1.2. The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of user-supplied input during web page generation, classified under [CWE-79]. An attacker can craft a malicious URL that, when visited by an authenticated or unauthenticated user, executes arbitrary JavaScript in the victim's browser within the WordPress site context.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation allows attackers to execute arbitrary scripts in a victim's browser, potentially leading to session theft, credential harvesting, and unauthorized actions on behalf of the targeted user.

Affected Products

Khaled User Meta plugin for WordPress
User Meta versions from n/a through 3.1.2
WordPress installations with the vulnerable user-meta plugin active

Discovery Timeline

2025-05-23 - CVE-2025-47611 published to NVD
2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-47611

Vulnerability Analysis

The User Meta plugin extends WordPress with custom user profile fields, registration forms, and front-end user management. CVE-2025-47611 is a reflected XSS vulnerability ([CWE-79]) where user-controlled input is reflected back into the rendered HTML response without sufficient sanitization or output encoding.

Reflected XSS requires user interaction to trigger. An attacker crafts a URL containing a malicious payload as a parameter value. When a victim clicks the link, the vulnerable plugin reflects the unsanitized input into the page, causing the browser to execute attacker-supplied JavaScript within the origin of the WordPress site.

The scope-changed nature of this flaw means injected script executes in the security context of the targeted WordPress domain. Attackers can use this to hijack administrator sessions, perform CSRF-style actions, redirect users to phishing pages, or inject keylogging scripts.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or insufficient input sanitization and output encoding in one or more request handlers within the user-meta plugin. Parameters supplied via HTTP GET or POST are echoed into HTML responses without being passed through WordPress sanitization functions such as esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses().

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based with low complexity and requires user interaction. The attacker delivers the malicious URL through phishing emails, forum posts, social media, or compromised third-party sites. No prior authentication is required to craft the payload, though the victim must visit the crafted link. See the Patchstack advisory for technical details.

The vulnerability mechanism follows the standard reflected XSS pattern: a vulnerable parameter accepts script content, the application includes that content in the HTTP response, and the browser parses the reflected payload as executable JavaScript.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-47611

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP requests to WordPress endpoints associated with the user-meta plugin containing URL-encoded <script> tags, javascript: URIs, or HTML event handlers such as onerror= and onload=.
Web server access logs showing referrers from external sites pointing to plugin URLs with suspicious query strings.
Unexpected outbound requests from administrator browsers to attacker-controlled domains shortly after visiting plugin-related pages.

Detection Strategies

Inspect WordPress access logs for query parameters containing encoded script payloads targeting user-meta plugin endpoints.
Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule set tuned to detect reflected XSS payload signatures in requests to /wp-content/plugins/user-meta/ and related routes.
Monitor browser-side Content Security Policy (CSP) violation reports for inline script execution attempts on pages rendered by the plugin.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable verbose logging on the WordPress instance and forward logs to a centralized analytics platform for correlation.
Track administrator session activity for anomalies such as unexpected privilege changes, new user creation, or plugin installation following navigation to suspicious URLs.
Alert on outbound HTTP requests from WordPress administrator IP ranges to newly registered or low-reputation domains.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-47611

Immediate Actions Required

Update the User Meta plugin to a version later than 3.1.2 as soon as a patched release is available from the vendor.
If a patch is not yet available, disable and remove the user-meta plugin until a fix is published.
Audit WordPress administrator accounts and rotate session tokens and passwords for users who may have clicked suspicious links.

Patch Information

At the time of publication, the vulnerability affects User Meta versions up to and including 3.1.2. Administrators should consult the Patchstack advisory and the official WordPress plugin repository for the latest fixed release.

Workarounds

Deploy a WAF rule that blocks requests containing script tags, JavaScript URI schemes, or HTML event handlers in parameters routed to the user-meta plugin.
Implement a strict Content Security Policy that disallows inline scripts and restricts script sources to trusted origins.
Restrict access to WordPress administrative pages by IP allowlist where feasible, reducing exposure of privileged sessions to phishing-delivered XSS payloads.

bash

# Example WAF rule (ModSecurity) to block common reflected XSS payloads
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains /wp-content/plugins/user-meta/" \
    "chain,deny,status:403,id:1004761,msg:'Possible XSS targeting user-meta plugin'"
    SecRule ARGS "@rx (?i)(<script|javascript:|onerror=|onload=)" \
        "t:urlDecodeUni,t:htmlEntityDecode"