CVE-2022-4478Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Stored XSS via unescaped shortcode title attribute

Published Jan 16, 2023 · Updated Apr 7, 2025

Stored XSS in the Font Awesome WordPress plugin before 4.3.2 allows remote authenticated users to execute script via an icon shortcode. The icon shortcode renderer places the user-controlled title attribute into generated markup without attribute escaping, allowing an injected event handler. Contributor access is sufficient to store the payload, but script execution requires a logged-in administrator to view the affected page.

CVSS severity5.4
Medium
EPSS probability0.47%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Stored XSS in the Font Awesome WordPress plugin before 4.3.2 allows remote authenticated users to execute script via an icon shortcode. The icon shortcode renderer places the user-controlled title attribute into generated markup without attribute escaping, allowing an injected event handler. Contributor access is sufficient to store the payload, but script execution requires a logged-in administrator to view the affected page.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-4478
Published
Jan 16, 2023
Updated
Apr 7, 2025
Vendor
Font Awesome
Product
Font Awesome
Classifications
CWE-79, T1059.007
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 16, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 7, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <4.3.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Font Awesome · Font Awesomeversion=0 <4.3.2

Published CVSS scores

5.4CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
T1059.007JavaScript/JScript

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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