Stored XSS via unescaped shortcode color attribute
Published Feb 21, 2023 · Updated Mar 14, 2025
Stored XSS in WP Font Awesome before 1.7.9 allows remote authenticated users with Contributor access to execute script in visitors' browsers. The wpfa shortcode renderer places the color attribute into generated markup without validation or output escaping, so a quote can terminate the value and add an event handler. Contributor-level access to place the shortcode in a page or post is required; the script runs when another user renders that stored content.
Summary
What happened
Stored XSS in WP Font Awesome before 1.7.9 allows remote authenticated users with Contributor access to execute script in visitors' browsers. The wpfa shortcode renderer places the color attribute into generated markup without validation or output escaping, so a quote can terminate the value and add an event handler. Contributor-level access to place the shortcode in a page or post is required; the script runs when another user renders that stored content.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-0271
- Published
- Feb 21, 2023
- Updated
- Mar 14, 2025
- Vendor
- Zayed Baloch
- Product
- WP Font Awesome
- Classifications
- CWE-79, T1059.007
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 21, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 14, 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.
- Affected versionversion=0 <1.7.9
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- WPScan wpfa color-attribute proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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