CVE-2025-6976: Pixelite Events Manager XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-6976 Overview

CVE-2025-6976 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, and more! plugin for WordPress, developed by Pixelite. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 7.0.3. The vulnerability resides in the plugin's shortcode handlers, which fail to properly sanitize and escape user-supplied attributes. Authenticated users with contributor-level access or higher can inject arbitrary JavaScript that executes in the browser of any visitor who loads an affected page. The issue is tracked under CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation).

Critical Impact
Authenticated contributors can persist arbitrary JavaScript on WordPress pages, enabling session theft, credential harvesting, and administrative account compromise when higher-privileged users view the injected content.

Affected Products

Pixelite Events Manager plugin for WordPress, versions up to and including 7.0.3
WordPress sites permitting contributor-level accounts and using the Events Manager shortcodes
Multi-author WordPress deployments where guest contributors submit event content

Discovery Timeline

2025-07-09 - CVE-2025-6976 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-6976

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability affects the shortcode rendering logic in the Events Manager plugin. Multiple shortcode handlers in classes/em-events.php and classes/em-locations.php accept attributes controlled by the shortcode author and emit them into HTML output without adequate escaping. When a contributor embeds a plugin shortcode with malicious attribute values, the resulting page contains attacker-controlled markup that executes as JavaScript in the visitor's browser context.

Exploitation requires authenticated access at the contributor level or above, and a victim must view the affected page. Because contributor accounts typically cannot publish content directly, the payload usually executes when an editor or administrator previews or reviews the submitted content, escalating impact toward privileged account takeover. The scope-change component of the vulnerability reflects that injected scripts execute in the context of the parent WordPress site, not the plugin sandbox.

Root Cause

The root cause is insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user-supplied shortcode attributes. The affected code paths are documented in the plugin source, including lines 287, 335, 357, and 485 of em-events.php and lines 214 and 261 of em-locations.php. WordPress helpers such as esc_attr() and esc_html() are either missing or applied inconsistently before attribute values reach the rendered page.

Attack Vector

An attacker registers or leverages an existing contributor-level WordPress account. They create a post or page containing an Events Manager shortcode with a crafted attribute value carrying JavaScript. When any authenticated user or site visitor loads the rendered page, the script executes with the privileges of that user's session. See the Wordfence Vulnerability Report for additional context. No proof-of-concept exploit code is publicly available in the tracked references.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-6976

Indicators of Compromise

Posts, pages, or custom post types containing Events Manager shortcodes with unusual attribute values that include <script>, onerror=, onload=, or javascript: sequences
Unexpected outbound HTTP requests from browsers of administrative users after they visit event-related pages
New administrative WordPress accounts or modified user roles following contributor content submissions

Detection Strategies

Scan the wp_posts table for shortcode invocations whose attributes contain HTML tags, event handlers, or encoded script payloads
Review WordPress audit logs for content authored by contributor-level accounts that references Events Manager shortcodes
Inspect rendered event and location pages with a headless browser to identify runtime script execution originating from shortcode attributes

Monitoring Recommendations

Monitor plugin version inventory across managed WordPress sites and alert when Events Manager remains at 7.0.3 or earlier
Track new user registrations and role changes, with particular attention to contributor accounts
Correlate browser telemetry from privileged sessions with visits to pages containing Events Manager shortcodes

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-6976

Immediate Actions Required

Update the Events Manager plugin to the version released after 7.0.3 that contains the fix referenced in the plugin changeset
Audit existing event and location content for shortcode attributes containing HTML or JavaScript payloads and remove or sanitize them
Review contributor and author accounts, disabling any that are unused or unrecognized

Patch Information

The vendor addressed the issue in the changeset published at plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3321403. Site operators should apply the patched plugin release through the WordPress plugin updater or by deploying the vendor package directly.

Workarounds

Restrict contributor-level and higher accounts to trusted users until the patched version is deployed
Temporarily disable the Events Manager plugin on sites where updating is not immediately feasible
Enforce a Content Security Policy that disallows inline script execution to reduce the impact of stored XSS payloads

bash

# Update the Events Manager plugin using WP-CLI
wp plugin update events-manager

# Verify installed version is above 7.0.3
wp plugin get events-manager --field=version

# List users with contributor role or higher for review
wp user list --role=contributor --fields=ID,user_login,user_email,user_registered