CVE-2017-15811

pootle button <= 1.1.1 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting

2017-10-12 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 1.2.0
Affected Plugin: pootle button
Affected Version: <= 1.1.1
CVSS: 5.4Medium
Weakness type: CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE: CVE-2017-15811

At a glance

CVE-2017-15811 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the pootle button WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.1.1. It carries a CVSS score of 5.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The issue is fixed in version 1.2.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2017, reported by Ricardo Sanchez.

Vulnerability Overview

The Pootle Button plugin before 1.2.0 for WordPress has XSS via the assets_url parameter in assets/dialog.php, exploitable via wp-admin/admin-ajax.php.

Technical Analysis

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

CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

Reaching this weakness in pootle button <= 1.1.1 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Cross-site scripting happens when input from a request is written into a page without being escaped for the context it lands in, so the browser parses attacker-supplied text as markup or script.

Injected script runs with the privileges of whoever views the affected page, which is how these flaws turn into administrator session theft, silent account creation or persistent backdoors in page content. For pootle button the fix is 1.2.0: builds <= 1.1.1 are affected, anything from 1.2.0 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.2.0, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to pootle button: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: pootle button 1.2.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-15811 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/498f539a-f824-42fb-9df8-c1f82c4b3947 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-15811

Related records

Same weakness class

6.1CVE-2025-23758: Pootle button <= 1.2.0 Reflected Cross-Site ScriptingCVE-2025-23758

CVSS Vector

5.4

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

Base

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

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