CVE-2022-2167 in Newspaper Theme
Summary
by MITRE • 10/31/2022
The Newspaper WordPress theme before 12 does not sanitise a parameter before outputting it back in an HTML attribute via an AJAX action, leading to a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/24/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-2167 affects the Newspaper WordPress theme version 12 and earlier, representing a critical security flaw that enables reflected cross-site scripting attacks. This issue stems from inadequate input sanitization within the theme's ajax handling mechanism, specifically when processing user-supplied parameters that are subsequently embedded into HTML attributes without proper validation or escaping. The vulnerability resides in the theme's implementation of AJAX actions that fail to properly sanitize data before incorporating it into HTML output contexts, creating an attack surface where malicious actors can inject arbitrary JavaScript code through crafted HTTP requests.
The technical flaw manifests when a user submits a request containing malicious input through an AJAX endpoint that the Newspaper theme utilizes. The theme's code processes this parameter without adequate sanitization, allowing the unsanitized data to flow directly into HTML attributes such as onclick, onmouseover, or other event handlers within the response. This creates a reflected XSS condition where the malicious script executes in the context of the victim's browser when they interact with the affected page. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it leverages legitimate AJAX functionality that is typically used for dynamic content updates, making the attack vector more subtle and harder to detect compared to traditional XSS vulnerabilities.
The operational impact of CVE-2022-2167 extends beyond simple script execution, potentially enabling attackers to perform session hijacking, deface websites, steal sensitive user data, or redirect victims to malicious domains. Attackers can craft malicious URLs containing encoded JavaScript payloads that, when visited by authenticated users with sufficient privileges, execute arbitrary code within their browser context. This vulnerability affects any WordPress site utilizing the affected Newspaper theme version, making it a widespread concern for content management systems that rely on this popular theme for their presentation layer. The reflected nature of the vulnerability means that attackers do not need to store malicious code on the server, instead relying on social engineering to convince victims to click malicious links that contain the exploit payload.
Security mitigations for CVE-2022-2167 primarily involve upgrading to Newspaper theme version 12 or later, where the sanitization issue has been addressed through proper input validation and output escaping mechanisms. Organizations should also implement comprehensive input validation at multiple layers, ensuring that all user-supplied data is properly sanitized before being incorporated into HTML contexts. The implementation of Content Security Policy (CSP) headers can provide additional protection against XSS attacks by restricting the sources from which scripts can be executed, though this serves as a defense-in-depth measure rather than a complete fix. According to CWE guidelines, this vulnerability maps to CWE-79 which describes improper neutralization of input during web page generation, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter, as attackers can leverage the reflected XSS to execute malicious scripts in victim browsers. Regular security audits of WordPress themes and plugins, combined with monitoring for suspicious AJAX requests, can help identify similar vulnerabilities before they can be exploited in the wild.