CVE-2025-5564: GC Social Wall WordPress Plugin XSS Flaw

CVE-2025-5564 Overview

The GC Social Wall plugin for WordPress contains a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the gc_social_wall shortcode. The flaw affects all plugin versions up to and including 1.15. It stems from insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user-supplied shortcode attributes.

Authenticated users with contributor-level access or higher can inject arbitrary JavaScript into pages. The injected script executes in the browser of any visitor who loads the affected page. This creates opportunities for session theft, credential harvesting, and unauthorized administrative actions when a privileged user views the compromised content.

Critical Impact
Authenticated contributors can inject persistent JavaScript that executes against site visitors, including administrators, enabling account takeover through session hijacking.

Affected Products

GC Social Wall plugin for WordPress, all versions through 1.15
WordPress sites permitting contributor-level or higher user registration
WordPress installations rendering pages that embed the gc_social_wall shortcode

Discovery Timeline

2025-06-26 - CVE CVE-2025-5564 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-5564

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a stored XSS flaw classified under [CWE-79] (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation). The plugin exposes a gc_social_wall shortcode that accepts user-controlled attributes. These attributes are rendered into page output without adequate sanitization or escaping.

An authenticated attacker with contributor privileges embeds the shortcode with malicious attribute values inside a post or page. When the post is rendered, the plugin outputs the attacker-controlled payload directly into the HTML response. The browser then executes the injected script in the context of the site's origin.

Because the payload is stored server-side, every subsequent visitor triggers execution. Administrators who preview or moderate contributor submissions are particularly exposed to session cookie theft and cross-site request forgery pivoting.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing input validation on shortcode attribute values combined with absent output escaping when the shortcode handler emits HTML. WordPress provides esc_attr(), esc_html(), and wp_kses() helpers for exactly this scenario. The plugin did not apply these functions to attacker-controllable attributes.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires an authenticated account at contributor level or above. The attacker authors a post containing the gc_social_wall shortcode with a crafted attribute that includes JavaScript. Once the post is published or previewed, the payload executes in the browser of every viewer. See the Wordfence Vulnerability Report and the WordPress Plugin Source for the vulnerable handler implementation.

No verified proof-of-concept code is published for this issue. The Wordfence advisory describes the shortcode attribute injection pattern without releasing a working payload.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-5564

Indicators of Compromise

Posts or pages containing gc_social_wall shortcodes with attribute values that include <script>, javascript:, onerror=, onload=, or encoded equivalents.
Unexpected outbound requests from visitor browsers to attacker-controlled domains sourced from pages rendering the shortcode.
New or modified posts authored by contributor-level accounts that embed the plugin's shortcode.

Detection Strategies

Query the wp_posts table for post_content matching the gc_social_wall shortcode and inspect attribute values for HTML or script metacharacters.
Review web server access logs for anomalous script fetches or Referer values originating from pages that render the shortcode.
Correlate contributor account activity with post revisions to identify accounts that recently added or modified the shortcode.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable WordPress audit logging to record post creation, revision, and role changes for all contributor and author accounts.
Deploy a Content Security Policy (CSP) in report-only mode to surface unexpected inline script execution on public pages.
Alert on newly registered contributor accounts that publish content within a short window of registration.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-5564

Immediate Actions Required

Deactivate the GC Social Wall plugin on any WordPress site running version 1.15 or earlier until a patched release is verified.
Audit all posts and pages for existing gc_social_wall shortcode instances and remove any that contain script content.
Restrict contributor-level account creation and review existing low-privilege accounts for unfamiliar registrations.

Patch Information

No patched version is referenced in the NVD entry or the linked Wordfence advisory at the time of publication. Site administrators should monitor the plugin's WordPress.org listing for a release above 1.15 and apply it immediately when available.

Workarounds

Remove or disable the plugin until a fixed version is released.
Limit shortcode usage by filtering gc_social_wall from do_shortcode output using a custom mu-plugin that strips or escapes the shortcode.
Enforce a strict Content Security Policy that blocks inline scripts to reduce the impact of successful injection.
Elevate the minimum role required to publish content so untrusted contributors cannot introduce shortcode payloads.

bash

# Configuration example: disable the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate gc-social-wall
wp plugin status gc-social-wall