CVE-2025-31402 in NewsBoard Post and RSS Scroller Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/09/2025
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in NewsBoard Plugin NewsBoard Post and RSS Scroller allows Stored XSS. This issue affects NewsBoard Post and RSS Scroller: from n/a through 1.2.12.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/09/2025
The CVE-2025-31402 vulnerability represents a critical security flaw in the NewsBoard plugin ecosystem, specifically affecting both the NewsBoard Post and RSS Scroller components. This vulnerability stems from a cross-site request forgery weakness that has been exploited to enable stored cross-site scripting attacks, creating a dangerous chain of exploitation that can compromise user sessions and data integrity across affected web applications. The vulnerability exists within a widely used WordPress plugin that facilitates news aggregation and content display, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to exploit web application weaknesses.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the insufficient validation and sanitization of user input within the plugin's processing mechanisms. When users submit content through the NewsBoard Post or RSS Scroller functionalities, the application fails to properly validate or escape malicious input before storing it in the database. This stored data is then subsequently rendered without adequate security measures, creating an environment where malicious scripts can be executed in the context of authenticated users' browsers. The flaw operates at the intersection of CSRF and XSS vulnerabilities, where the initial CSRF attack allows for the injection of malicious payloads that persist in the application's database, transforming into stored XSS attacks upon subsequent page loads.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple data corruption or display issues, as it can lead to complete session hijacking, unauthorized administrative actions, and the potential for lateral movement within compromised networks. Attackers can craft malicious posts or RSS feeds that contain embedded scripts, which execute automatically when other users view the content, potentially stealing cookies, redirecting users to malicious sites, or performing unauthorized actions on behalf of the victims. This vulnerability directly impacts the principle of least privilege by allowing unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious code that can be executed with the privileges of authenticated users, creating a significant threat to web application security and user privacy.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigation strategies including input validation, output escaping, and the implementation of anti-CSRF tokens throughout the plugin's user interaction points. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery, and CWE-79, which covers cross-site scripting. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1566, the initial access phase, and T1059, command and control through script execution, potentially enabling more sophisticated attack chains. Organizations should ensure that all instances of the NewsBoard plugin are updated to versions beyond 1.2.12, implement proper content security policies, and conduct thorough security audits of all user-generated content processing mechanisms within their web applications. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date third-party components and implementing comprehensive security controls that address both authentication and input validation weaknesses simultaneously.