CVE-2025-8561

Ova Advent <= 1.1.7 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Shortcode

2025-10-14 16:42

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 1.1.8
Affected Plugin: Ova Advent
Affected Version: <= 1.1.7
CVSS: 6.4Medium
Weakness type: CWE-87 · Improper Neutralization of Alternate XSS Syntax
CVE: CVE-2025-8561

At a glance

CVE-2025-8561 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Alternate XSS Syntax vulnerability in the Ova Advent WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.1.7. It carries a CVSS score of 6.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Contributor level or above. The issue is fixed in version 1.1.8; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2025, reported by Marco Wotschka.

Vulnerability Overview

The Ova Advent plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the plugin's shortcodes in all versions up to, and including, 1.1.7 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user supplied attributes. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no interaction from a victim user.

CWE-87: Improper Neutralization of Alternate XSS Syntax

The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controlled input for alternate script syntax.

Remediation

Update to version 1.1.8, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Contributor access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Ova Advent 1.1.8 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-8561 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/da6bf521-0c22-4839-8fa6-a0d67e28cfbd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-8561

CVSS Vector

6.4

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeChanged
ConfidentialityLow
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityNone

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