CVE-2025-47632: Awesome Gallery Stored XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-47632 Overview

CVE-2025-47632 is a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Awesome Gallery WordPress plugin developed by Raihanul Islam. The flaw stems from improper neutralization of user-supplied input during web page generation [CWE-79]. It affects all versions of Awesome Gallery up to and including 1.0. An authenticated attacker with low privileges can inject malicious script content that persists in the application. When another user renders the affected page, the browser executes the injected payload in their session context. The vulnerability requires user interaction and can cross security boundaries due to a scope change.

Critical Impact
Authenticated contributors can store JavaScript payloads that execute in the browsers of site visitors and administrators, enabling session theft and administrative action hijacking.

Affected Products

Raihanul Islam Awesome Gallery WordPress plugin
Awesome Gallery versions from n/a through 1.0
WordPress sites with the awesome-gallery plugin installed and activated

Discovery Timeline

2025-05-07 - CVE-2025-47632 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-47632

Vulnerability Analysis

The Awesome Gallery plugin fails to sanitize and escape user-controlled input before rendering it in HTML output. This lapse allows an authenticated user to inject persistent script content into gallery data stored in the WordPress database. When any subsequent visitor loads a page that renders that data, the browser interprets the injected content as executable script. Because the payload persists server-side, exploitation does not require the attacker to trick a specific victim into visiting a crafted URL. The stored nature of the flaw increases reach compared to reflected XSS variants.

The scope-change component of the impact indicates that a successful attack affects resources beyond the vulnerable component, typically the browser sessions of authenticated administrators. Consequences include session cookie theft, account takeover, arbitrary administrative actions, and drive-by redirection to attacker-controlled infrastructure.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing output encoding and input sanitization in the plugin's gallery rendering paths. WordPress provides escaping helpers such as esc_html(), esc_attr(), and wp_kses_post(), along with input filters like sanitize_text_field(). The vulnerable code paths did not apply these routines consistently before echoing user input into HTML contexts.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires network access to the target WordPress site and authenticated access at a low privilege tier such as Contributor or Author. The attacker submits crafted input containing HTML or JavaScript through a plugin form or endpoint. The payload is stored and later rendered without escaping. When a higher-privileged user views the affected page, the script executes in that user's browser context. See the Patchstack XSS Vulnerability Report for advisory details.

No public proof-of-concept or exploit code is currently available for CVE-2025-47632.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-47632

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected <script>, <iframe>, or event-handler attributes (onerror, onload) stored in WordPress database tables associated with the awesome-gallery plugin
Outbound HTTP requests from administrator browsers to unfamiliar domains shortly after viewing gallery pages
New or modified WordPress administrator accounts created without corresponding audit-log activity
Unexpected changes to WordPress options, themes, or plugin files following administrator sessions

Detection Strategies

Inspect the wp_posts, wp_postmeta, and plugin-specific tables for HTML tags and JavaScript event handlers within fields controlled by the Awesome Gallery plugin
Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) rule set that flags XSS payload patterns targeting WordPress plugin endpoints
Correlate low-privileged user submissions to gallery endpoints with subsequent administrator sessions on the same pages

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable WordPress audit logging for contributor and author activity, including post and metadata modifications
Monitor administrator browser sessions for anomalous XHR or fetch requests generated from gallery pages
Alert on installation of the awesome-gallery plugin at version 1.0 or earlier across managed WordPress fleets

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-47632

Immediate Actions Required

Inventory WordPress installations for the awesome-gallery plugin and identify any instance at version 1.0 or below
Deactivate and remove the Awesome Gallery plugin until a patched release is confirmed by the vendor
Review contributor, author, and editor accounts for unexpected activity and rotate credentials for any suspect user
Force logout of all administrator sessions and invalidate authentication cookies

Patch Information

No fixed version has been published by the vendor at the time of NVD entry. The advisory lists the vulnerability as affecting Awesome Gallery from n/a through <= 1.0. Administrators should monitor the Patchstack advisory and the plugin's WordPress.org listing for updates.

Workarounds

Remove the plugin from production sites until a vendor patch is available
Restrict contributor and author role assignments to trusted users only, reducing the pool of accounts able to exploit the flaw
Deploy WAF signatures that block stored XSS payloads targeting WordPress plugin endpoints
Enforce a strict Content Security Policy (CSP) that disallows inline scripts and untrusted script sources

bash

# Configuration example: disable the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate awesome-gallery
wp plugin delete awesome-gallery

# Example Content-Security-Policy header enforced at the web server
# add_header Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; object-src 'none'; base-uri 'self'" always;