CVE-2025-2906 in Real Estate Core Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/01/2025
The Contempo Real Estate Core plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via shortcodes in versions up to, and including, 3.6.3 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user supplied attributes. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with contributor-level and above permissions to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/01/2025
The Contempo Real Estate Core plugin for WordPress presents a significant security vulnerability classified as CVE-2025-2906, affecting all versions up to and including 3.6.3. This vulnerability manifests as a stored cross-site scripting flaw that exploits the plugin's handling of user-supplied shortcode attributes. The flaw exists within the plugin's insufficient input sanitization and output escaping mechanisms, creating a persistent security risk that can be exploited by authenticated attackers possessing contributor-level permissions or higher. The vulnerability represents a critical weakness in the WordPress ecosystem, particularly concerning real estate management platforms where user-generated content is prevalent.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the plugin's failure to properly sanitize and escape user input when processing shortcode attributes. When administrators or contributors create or modify content using the plugin's shortcodes, the system does not adequately validate or escape the attributes provided by users. This allows malicious actors to inject malicious JavaScript code within the shortcode parameters, which gets stored in the database and executed whenever the affected page is rendered. The vulnerability operates at the intersection of CWE-79, which defines cross-site scripting flaws, and CWE-20, which addresses input validation issues. The stored nature of this XSS vulnerability means that the malicious code persists in the database and executes automatically for any user who accesses the affected pages, making it particularly dangerous for widespread impact.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it creates a persistent backdoor for attackers to compromise user sessions and potentially escalate privileges within the WordPress environment. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to inject malicious scripts that could steal cookies, redirect users to phishing sites, or even execute additional attacks through the compromised user sessions. The requirement for only contributor-level permissions makes this vulnerability particularly concerning as it can be exploited by users who typically have limited access rights, potentially allowing for privilege escalation or data exfiltration. This vulnerability directly maps to attack techniques described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter and T1566 for credential harvesting, as the stored XSS can be used to capture user credentials or session tokens.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2025-2906 must include immediate plugin version updates to the latest secure release, as well as comprehensive input validation and output escaping implementations. Administrators should implement strict role-based access controls to limit contributor-level permissions where possible, and consider additional security measures such as web application firewalls to detect and prevent malicious shortcode injection attempts. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of input sanitization and output escaping practices in web application development, aligning with security standards that emphasize proper validation of user-supplied data. Regular security audits and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other plugins and themes, as this represents a common pattern in WordPress plugin development where insufficient sanitization creates exploitable attack vectors. Organizations should also implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual shortcode usage patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts.