CVE-2025-58988: My Tickets Plugin Stored XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-58988 Overview

CVE-2025-58988 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Joe Dolson My Tickets WordPress plugin (my-tickets). The flaw affects all versions up to and including 2.0.22. An authenticated attacker with low privileges can inject malicious scripts that persist in the application and execute in the browsers of other users, including administrators. The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation.

Critical Impact
Stored XSS enables session hijacking, credential theft, and administrative account takeover through malicious payloads persisted in plugin-managed content.

Affected Products

Joe Dolson My Tickets WordPress plugin (my-tickets)
All versions from initial release through 2.0.22
WordPress sites using the plugin for event ticketing

Discovery Timeline

2025-09-09 - CVE-2025-58988 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-58988

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of user-supplied input during web page generation within the My Tickets plugin. Input submitted through plugin-managed fields is stored in the WordPress database without adequate sanitization or output encoding. When the affected pages render, the browser executes the stored payload in the context of the victim's session.

Exploitation requires an authenticated user with low privileges and user interaction from the victim. The scope is changed, meaning the payload can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component, including administrator sessions and other privileged contexts within the WordPress instance.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or insufficient sanitization of input passed to output contexts that render HTML. The plugin does not apply WordPress escaping functions such as esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses() before writing user-controlled data to the page. This allows script tags and event handlers to survive the write-and-render cycle.

Attack Vector

An authenticated attacker submits a payload containing JavaScript into a vulnerable field exposed by the My Tickets plugin. The payload is persisted to the database. When an administrator or other user loads the affected view, the script executes with the victim's privileges. Attackers use this primitive to steal session cookies, perform actions as the victim, or pivot to full site compromise. Refer to the Patchstack XSS Vulnerability Report for additional technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-58988

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected <script>, <iframe>, or on* event handler strings in My Tickets database records or rendered pages
Outbound requests from administrator browsers to unknown domains after loading plugin views
Creation of new administrator accounts or modification of user roles without a corresponding audit trail
Presence of the my-tickets plugin at version <= 2.0.22 in the WordPress plugin inventory

Detection Strategies

Inspect plugin-managed database tables and post metadata for HTML or JavaScript in fields that should contain plain text
Enable and review WordPress audit logs for content submissions from low-privileged users targeting My Tickets endpoints
Deploy a Content Security Policy (CSP) in report-only mode to surface unexpected inline script execution

Monitoring Recommendations

Alert on administrator sessions that trigger requests to external domains shortly after visiting /wp-admin/ pages related to My Tickets
Track version inventory across WordPress deployments and flag installations running vulnerable my-tickets builds
Monitor for anomalous privilege escalation events and unexpected changes to WordPress user accounts

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-58988

Immediate Actions Required

Identify all WordPress sites running the my-tickets plugin at version 2.0.22 or earlier
Update the plugin to a fixed release once the vendor publishes a patched version above 2.0.22
Restrict who can submit content to My Tickets fields by reviewing role assignments and removing unnecessary contributor-level access
Rotate administrator credentials and session tokens if exploitation is suspected

Patch Information

The vulnerability affects My Tickets versions through 2.0.22. Consult the Patchstack advisory for the current fixed version and apply the update through the WordPress plugin manager or by deploying the updated plugin files directly.

Workarounds

Deactivate the My Tickets plugin until a patched version is installed if event ticketing is not business-critical
Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule set that blocks XSS payload patterns targeting WordPress plugin endpoints
Enforce a strict Content Security Policy that disallows inline scripts and restricts script sources to trusted origins
Limit low-privileged account creation and require administrator review for new user registrations

bash

# Example CSP header to reduce XSS impact in WordPress
Header set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; object-src 'none'; base-uri 'self'; frame-ancestors 'self'"