Stored XSS via unescaped logged usernames
Published May 2, 2023 · Updated Jan 30, 2025
Stored XSS in Automattic Limit Login Attempts 1.7.2 and earlier allows remote authenticated users to inject scripts through logged usernames. The logs dashboard outputs attacker-controlled usernames without sanitization or escaping, preserving script markup in administrative log views. Subscriber-level access is sufficient, but execution requires an administrator to open the affected logs dashboard; the script then runs in that administrator's browser context.
Summary
What happened
Stored XSS in Automattic Limit Login Attempts 1.7.2 and earlier allows remote authenticated users to inject scripts through logged usernames. The logs dashboard outputs attacker-controlled usernames without sanitization or escaping, preserving script markup in administrative log views. Subscriber-level access is sufficient, but execution requires an administrator to open the affected logs dashboard; the script then runs in that administrator's browser context.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-1861
- Published
- May 2, 2023
- Updated
- Jan 30, 2025
- Vendor
- Automattic
- Product
- Limit Login Attempts
- Classifications
- CWE-79, T1059.007
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 2, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 30, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <=1.7.2
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 authenticated stored-XSS proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo