CVE-2025-62110: Rescue Shortcodes Stored XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-62110 Overview

CVE-2025-62110 is a Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting the Rescue Shortcodes WordPress plugin developed by Rescue Themes. This vulnerability arises from improper neutralization of user-supplied input during web page generation, allowing authenticated attackers with low privileges to inject malicious scripts that persist in the application and execute in victims' browsers.

Stored XSS vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous because the malicious payload is permanently stored on the target server and automatically delivered to any user who views the affected content, without requiring the attacker to craft individual phishing links or trick users into clicking malicious URLs.

Critical Impact

Authenticated attackers can inject persistent malicious scripts that execute in the context of victim browsers, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, website defacement, or malware distribution to site visitors.

Affected Products

• Rescue Shortcodes WordPress Plugin versions through 3.3
• WordPress installations utilizing the Rescue Shortcodes plugin
• Websites with Rescue Themes templates using the vulnerable shortcodes functionality

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-04-23 - CVE CVE-2025-62110 published to NVD
• 2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-62110

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability falls under CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation), commonly known as Cross-Site Scripting. The Rescue Shortcodes plugin fails to properly sanitize or escape user-controlled input before incorporating it into dynamically generated web pages.

In Stored XSS scenarios like this, an attacker with authenticated access to the WordPress site can inject malicious JavaScript code through plugin shortcode parameters or content fields. This malicious payload is then saved to the database and rendered without proper encoding whenever the affected page is viewed.

The network-accessible nature of the vulnerability combined with the requirement for user interaction (a victim must view the page containing the malicious content) and the ability to affect users beyond the immediate session (changed scope) characterizes the attack profile. The vulnerability can impact confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected web application to a limited degree.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability lies in insufficient input validation and output encoding within the Rescue Shortcodes plugin. When processing shortcode attributes or content, the plugin fails to:

1. Sanitize user input upon submission to strip or encode potentially dangerous HTML/JavaScript content
2. Apply proper output encoding (such as esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses()) when rendering stored content in the browser
3. Implement Content Security Policy headers that could mitigate script injection attacks

WordPress provides several built-in functions for secure output encoding, but the plugin neglects to utilize these protective measures consistently across its shortcode rendering functionality.

Attack Vector

The attack requires the adversary to have authenticated access to the WordPress site, typically as a contributor, author, or higher privilege level. The attacker exploits the vulnerability by:

1. Creating or editing content that utilizes Rescue Shortcodes functionality
2. Injecting malicious JavaScript payloads within shortcode parameters or content areas that lack proper sanitization
3. Publishing or saving the content containing the malicious payload
4. Waiting for victim users (including administrators) to view the affected page, triggering script execution

The malicious script executes with the privileges of the viewing user within their browser session, enabling attacks such as cookie theft, keylogging, phishing form injection, or administrative action hijacking. For additional technical details, refer to the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Analysis.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-62110

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual JavaScript code or <script> tags appearing within WordPress post content, shortcode parameters, or custom fields associated with Rescue Shortcodes
• Unexpected outbound connections from client browsers to unknown external domains when viewing pages using the plugin
• Reports from users about browser warnings, unexpected popups, or unusual behavior when accessing site pages
• Authentication cookies or session tokens appearing in server access logs for external domains

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block common XSS payload patterns in POST requests to WordPress content endpoints
• Configure Content Security Policy (CSP) headers with reporting enabled to detect inline script execution attempts
• Deploy browser-based monitoring solutions to identify anomalous DOM manipulation or script injection on pages using Rescue Shortcodes
• Regularly audit WordPress database content for suspicious HTML/JavaScript patterns using security scanning plugins

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable WordPress audit logging to track all content modifications, especially shortcode-related changes
• Monitor HTTP response headers for pages served by the site to ensure CSP and X-XSS-Protection headers are properly configured
• Implement real-time alerting for WAF rule triggers related to XSS attack patterns targeting the WordPress installation
• Review plugin update notifications and security advisories from Patchstack and WordPress security resources

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-62110

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the Rescue Shortcodes plugin to the latest patched version as soon as a security update is released by Rescue Themes
• Audit existing content created using Rescue Shortcodes for any suspicious or malicious script injections
• Review user accounts with content creation privileges and revoke access for any suspicious or unnecessary accounts
• Implement Content Security Policy headers to reduce the impact of any successful XSS exploitation

Patch Information

A patched version addressing this vulnerability should be obtained from Rescue Themes or the WordPress plugin repository. Monitor the official plugin page and the Patchstack vulnerability database for patch release announcements. Organizations should prioritize updating from any version at or below 3.3 once a fix becomes available.

Workarounds

• Temporarily deactivate the Rescue Shortcodes plugin if it is not critical to site functionality until a patch is available
• Implement WAF rules to filter and sanitize input to shortcode-related endpoints, blocking common XSS payload patterns
• Restrict content creation privileges to trusted administrators only, reducing the attack surface for authenticated exploitation
• Add server-side Content Security Policy headers to prevent inline script execution as a defense-in-depth measure

# Example Apache .htaccess CSP configuration
Header set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; object-src 'none'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline';"