CVE-2025-49395 Overview
CVE-2025-49395 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Themify Icons WordPress plugin developed by themifyme. The flaw affects all versions of the plugin up to and including 2.0.3. An authenticated attacker with low privileges can inject malicious JavaScript that persists in the application and executes in the browsers of other users who view the affected content. The issue is classified under CWE-79 for improper neutralization of input during web page generation.
Critical Impact
Attackers with low-level authenticated access can store malicious scripts that execute in victim browsers, enabling session theft, administrative action hijacking, and content manipulation across the affected WordPress site.
Affected Products
- Themify Icons WordPress plugin versions through 2.0.3
- WordPress sites running the vulnerable plugin with authenticated user roles enabled
- Any site permitting low-privileged users to interact with the plugin's input surfaces
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-08-20 - CVE-2025-49395 published to the National Vulnerability Database
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-49395
Vulnerability Analysis
The Themify Icons plugin fails to properly neutralize user-supplied input before rendering it in web pages generated by the plugin. This allows an authenticated attacker to inject arbitrary HTML and JavaScript payloads that the application persists in its data store. When another user, including administrators, loads a page containing the injected content, the browser executes the attacker-controlled script within the trust context of the WordPress site.
Stored XSS in a WordPress plugin is particularly consequential because payloads execute against every viewer of the affected content. Successful exploitation requires user interaction, and the scope changes from vulnerable to victim, meaning injected scripts operate against other users' sessions rather than only the attacker's own context.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing or insufficient output encoding and input sanitization in the plugin's rendering logic. User input reaches the DOM without passing through WordPress escaping functions such as esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses(). Because the payload is stored server-side, it re-executes on every subsequent page load until removed.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires an authenticated account with low privileges on the target WordPress site. The attacker submits a crafted payload containing JavaScript through a plugin input field that later renders in another user's browser. When an administrator or higher-privileged user views the page, the payload executes with that user's permissions. Refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for additional technical detail.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-49395
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected <script> tags, event handlers such as onerror or onload, or javascript: URIs stored in plugin-related database entries
- Outbound HTTP requests from administrator sessions to unknown external domains shortly after loading plugin-rendered pages
- Unauthorized creation of new administrator accounts or modification of WordPress user roles
- Suspicious cookie or session token exfiltration observed in web server or proxy logs
Detection Strategies
- Query the WordPress database for plugin-owned fields containing HTML tags or JavaScript keywords
- Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with signatures for stored XSS payload patterns targeting WordPress plugins
- Monitor administrative actions performed shortly after page views for anomalous behavior chains
- Review plugin audit logs for input submissions from low-privileged accounts that contain markup or encoded script content
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable a WordPress activity logging plugin to record user input submissions and administrative changes
- Alert on Content Security Policy (CSP) violation reports indicating inline script execution attempts
- Track privilege escalation events and password resets originating from active administrator sessions
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-49395
Immediate Actions Required
- Update Themify Icons to a version above 2.0.3 when a patched release becomes available from the vendor
- Audit user accounts and remove or restrict low-privileged accounts that no longer require access
- Inspect plugin data for previously injected payloads and sanitize or remove suspicious entries
- Rotate credentials and session tokens for any administrator who accessed plugin-rendered pages during the exposure window
Patch Information
At the time of publication, the advisory tracks the vulnerability as affecting Themify Icons versions through 2.0.3. Monitor the Patchstack advisory and the vendor's plugin page on the WordPress plugin directory for a fixed release, and apply the update as soon as it is available.
Workarounds
- Deactivate and remove the Themify Icons plugin until a patched version is released if it is not essential
- Restrict access to plugin functionality by limiting which user roles can submit content processed by the plugin
- Deploy a WAF rule set that blocks common XSS payload patterns in requests targeting WordPress plugin endpoints
- Implement a strict Content Security Policy that disallows inline scripts and untrusted script sources
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.