CVE-2025-1672 in Notibar Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 03/06/2025
The Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via admin settings in all versions up to, and including, 2.1.5 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with administrator-level permissions and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page. This only affects multi-site installations and installations where unfiltered_html has been disabled.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/06/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-1672 affects the Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress plugin, a widely used notification management tool for WordPress websites. This security flaw represents a critical stored cross-site scripting vulnerability that specifically targets WordPress installations running version 2.1.5 or earlier. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input sanitization and insufficient output escaping mechanisms within the plugin's administrative settings interface. Attackers exploiting this weakness can inject malicious scripts that persist in the database and execute whenever users access affected pages, making it particularly dangerous for high-privilege users who maintain administrative control over WordPress installations. The vulnerability's impact is amplified in multi-site WordPress environments where the attack surface expands significantly.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs within the plugin's admin settings handling functionality where user inputs are not properly sanitized before being stored in the database. When administrators configure notification settings through the WordPress admin panel, the plugin fails to adequately validate or escape user-supplied content, creating an opportunity for malicious script injection. The stored nature of this XSS vulnerability means that the injected scripts are permanently saved in the database and will execute automatically whenever affected pages are loaded by any user, including those with lower privileges. This persistent execution model differs from reflected XSS attacks and makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can affect multiple users over extended periods without requiring repeated exploitation attempts. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79 as a failure to sanitize input, specifically manifesting as a stored cross-site scripting flaw.
The operational impact of CVE-2025-1672 extends beyond simple script execution, as authenticated administrators with sufficient privileges can leverage this vulnerability to perform various malicious activities. Attackers could inject scripts that redirect users to malicious websites, steal session cookies, or perform unauthorized administrative actions on behalf of legitimate users. In multi-site WordPress installations, the scope of potential damage increases exponentially since a single compromised site can affect the entire network. The vulnerability's requirement for administrator-level permissions and above provides some protection against casual attackers but does not eliminate the risk entirely, as social engineering or credential compromise attacks could still exploit this weakness. The restriction to installations where unfiltered_html has been disabled suggests that the vulnerability may be less prevalent in default WordPress configurations, but still poses significant risk to organizations with custom security policies.
Organizations should immediately update to the latest version of the Notibar plugin to mitigate this vulnerability, as the patch addresses the core sanitization and escaping issues that enable the XSS attack. System administrators should also implement additional monitoring for suspicious administrative activities and user behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of input validation and output escaping in web applications, principles that align with security standards such as the OWASP Top Ten and the MITRE ATT&CK framework's defense evasion techniques. Administrators should consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious script injection attempts, while also conducting regular security audits of installed plugins to identify other potential vulnerabilities. The incident underscores the necessity of maintaining up-to-date security practices and the importance of validating third-party plugin security before deployment in production environments.