CVE-2025-48253 Overview
CVE-2025-48253 is a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the WPFactory Free Shipping Bar: Amount Left for Free Shipping for WooCommerce plugin. The flaw affects all plugin versions up through 2.4.6 and stems from improper neutralization of user-supplied input during web page generation [CWE-79]. An authenticated attacker with low privileges can inject persistent JavaScript payloads that execute in the browsers of visitors and administrators who load the affected pages. Because the exploit crosses a security scope boundary, the injected script can act on behalf of higher-privileged users.
Critical Impact
Authenticated low-privilege users can inject persistent scripts that execute in administrator browsers, enabling session theft, unauthorized configuration changes, and further compromise of the WooCommerce store.
Affected Products
- WPFactory Free Shipping Bar: Amount Left for Free Shipping for WooCommerce (plugin slug amount-left-free-shipping-woocommerce)
- All versions from initial release through 2.4.6
- WordPress sites running WooCommerce with the vulnerable plugin installed
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-05-19 - CVE-2025-48253 published to the National Vulnerability Database
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-48253
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability is a stored XSS flaw in the WPFactory Free Shipping Bar plugin for WooCommerce. Attacker-controlled input is written to persistent storage and later rendered in HTML contexts without sufficient encoding or sanitization. Because the payload persists in the database, it executes each time an affected page is loaded, without requiring the attacker to interact with the victim directly.
Exploitation requires an authenticated account with low privileges and a user-interaction step, such as loading a page in the WordPress admin or storefront. The impact extends beyond the attacker's own privilege level because the injected script runs in the victim's browser session, potentially in an administrative context.
Root Cause
The underlying weakness is improper neutralization of input during web page generation [CWE-79]. Plugin code writes user-supplied values, likely tied to shipping bar configuration fields, into the page output without applying WordPress escaping primitives such as esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses_post(). HTML and JavaScript metacharacters submitted by an authenticated user survive persistence and are reflected verbatim into the DOM.
Attack Vector
An authenticated attacker submits a crafted payload through a plugin configuration field that is later rendered on storefront or admin pages. When a store administrator or shopper loads the page, the browser parses and executes the stored script. The attacker can hijack authenticated sessions, exfiltrate cookies or CSRF tokens, modify store settings, or pivot to further compromise. No exploitation in the wild has been reported, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
See the Patchstack XSS Vulnerability Report for the coordinated disclosure record.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-48253
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected <script>, onerror=, onload=, or javascript: strings stored in wp_options or plugin-specific rows related to amount-left-free-shipping-woocommerce.
- Outbound requests from administrator browsers to unfamiliar domains shortly after loading WooCommerce settings or storefront pages.
- New or modified WordPress administrator accounts created without a corresponding legitimate admin action.
Detection Strategies
- Review the wp_options table and plugin settings for HTML or JavaScript characters (<, >, ", ') in fields that should contain only text or numeric values.
- Deploy a web application firewall rule to flag POST requests to WordPress admin endpoints that contain script tags or event-handler attributes in plugin configuration parameters.
- Correlate admin session activity with unexpected client-side requests using browser telemetry or endpoint monitoring.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable WordPress audit logging to record changes to plugin settings and administrator accounts.
- Monitor for new WordPress users with the administrator role and for unauthorized changes to site URL, active theme, or user metadata.
- Alert on any modifications to files under wp-content/plugins/amount-left-free-shipping-woocommerce/.
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-48253
Immediate Actions Required
- Update the WPFactory Free Shipping Bar plugin to a version later than 2.4.6 as soon as a patched release is available from the vendor.
- Audit plugin configuration fields for injected HTML or JavaScript and remove any malicious payloads from the database.
- Rotate WordPress administrator credentials and invalidate active sessions if injection is confirmed.
Patch Information
As of the latest NVD update, the vulnerability affects all versions through 2.4.6. Monitor the Patchstack advisory and the WordPress plugin repository for a fixed release, and apply it immediately upon availability.
Workarounds
- Deactivate and remove the plugin until a fixed version is published if the shipping bar functionality is not business-critical.
- Restrict access to plugin configuration screens by limiting which accounts hold roles capable of editing WooCommerce settings.
- Deploy a web application firewall with rules that block script tags and event-handler attributes in requests to WordPress admin endpoints.
# Example WordPress CLI commands to disable the vulnerable plugin
wp plugin deactivate amount-left-free-shipping-woocommerce
wp plugin uninstall amount-left-free-shipping-woocommerce
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
