CVE-2025-49301: Greenshift WordPress Plugin XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-49301 Overview

CVE-2025-49301 is a DOM-based Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Greenshift greenshift-animation-and-page-builder-blocks plugin for WordPress developed by wpsoul. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 11.5.5. It stems from improper neutralization of user input during web page generation, tracked under [CWE-79]. An authenticated attacker with low privileges can inject malicious scripts that execute in the browser of a victim who interacts with a crafted request or page. Successful exploitation impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability at a limited scope and can pivot across security boundaries.

Critical Impact
An authenticated attacker can execute arbitrary JavaScript in a victim's browser session, enabling session theft, content manipulation, and pivot attacks against WordPress administrators.

Affected Products

Greenshift greenshift-animation-and-page-builder-blocks WordPress plugin
All versions from initial release through 11.5.5
WordPress sites running the vulnerable plugin with any authenticated user role capable of interacting with plugin components

Discovery Timeline

2025-06-06 - CVE-2025-49301 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-49301

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a DOM-based XSS flaw in the Greenshift page builder plugin. DOM-based XSS occurs when client-side JavaScript writes attacker-controlled data into the Document Object Model without proper sanitization or output encoding. The malicious payload never needs to reach the server in a reflected form; instead, it is processed and rendered directly by browser-side code.

Exploitation requires user interaction and low-level authentication. An attacker crafts input that the plugin's JavaScript later inserts into a sensitive DOM sink such as innerHTML, document.write, or an unsafe attribute assignment. When a victim loads the affected page or interacts with the malicious element, the injected script executes in the victim's browser under the origin of the WordPress site.

Because the vulnerability has a changed scope, code executing in the victim's browser can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component, including administrative interfaces of WordPress if an administrator is targeted.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or insufficient sanitization of untrusted input before it is written to the DOM by the plugin's client-side scripts. The plugin trusts values that can be influenced by lower-privileged users and passes them to sinks that interpret HTML or JavaScript.

Attack Vector

An attacker with a low-privileged authenticated account submits or stores a payload processed by Greenshift block rendering logic. When another user, typically an editor or administrator, loads a page containing that payload, the malicious script executes. The attack requires user interaction and network access to the WordPress site.

See the Patchstack WordPress XSS Vulnerability advisory for additional context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-49301

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected <script> tags, event handler attributes such as onerror or onload, or javascript: URIs embedded in Greenshift block content stored in the WordPress database.
Outbound browser requests from administrator sessions to unfamiliar domains shortly after loading pages containing Greenshift blocks.
New or modified WordPress administrator accounts, plugin installations, or option changes correlated with editor activity on Greenshift-rendered pages.

Detection Strategies

Review the wp_posts and wp_postmeta tables for Greenshift block markup containing HTML event handlers, encoded script payloads, or suspicious URI schemes.
Enable and monitor a strict Content Security Policy (CSP) that reports inline script violations originating from WordPress admin and editor pages.
Correlate WordPress audit logs with web server access logs to identify low-privileged users who edited Greenshift blocks immediately before administrator session anomalies.

Monitoring Recommendations

Alert on JavaScript errors and CSP violation reports referencing plugin asset paths under wp-content/plugins/greenshift-animation-and-page-builder-blocks/.
Monitor administrative actions such as user creation, role changes, and plugin installations for sessions that recently rendered Greenshift content.
Track EPSS trends for CVE-2025-49301 to prioritize remediation as exploitation likelihood shifts.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-49301

Immediate Actions Required

Update the Greenshift plugin to a version later than 11.5.5 as soon as a fixed release is available from wpsoul.
Audit all WordPress user accounts and remove or downgrade unnecessary contributor, author, and editor roles that could be abused to inject payloads.
Review existing Greenshift blocks on published and draft content for suspicious HTML, script tags, or event handler attributes and remove any untrusted markup.

Patch Information

Refer to the Patchstack advisory for Greenshift 11.5.5 XSS for the current fixed version and vendor guidance. Apply the plugin update through the WordPress admin dashboard or via WP-CLI as soon as it becomes available.

Workarounds

Deactivate the Greenshift plugin until a patched version is installed if the plugin is not business critical.
Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule set that blocks common XSS payloads targeting WordPress block editor endpoints.
Enforce a restrictive Content Security Policy that disallows inline scripts and untrusted external script sources on WordPress admin and editor pages.

bash

# Update Greenshift via WP-CLI once a fixed release is published
wp plugin update greenshift-animation-and-page-builder-blocks

# Verify the installed version is greater than 11.5.5
wp plugin get greenshift-animation-and-page-builder-blocks --field=version

# Temporarily deactivate the plugin if a patch is not yet available
wp plugin deactivate greenshift-animation-and-page-builder-blocks