CVE-2025-47673

Vulnerability

Analysis

The Arconix Shortcodes WordPress plugin, versions up to and including 2.1.16, contains a reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability. The root cause is improper neutralization of user-supplied input during web page generation, allowing an attacker to inject arbitrary HTML and JavaScript code into a response [1].

Exploitation

Prerequisites

Exploitation requires user interaction: a privileged user (e.g., an administrator) must click a crafted link, visit a malicious page, or submit a specially crafted form. The attack surface is the plugin's handling of shortcode parameters, which are reflected back without proper sanitization or output encoding. No authentication is needed beyond the victim's session, and the attack can be launched from any website or email link [1].

Impact

Successful exploitation enables an attacker to execute malicious scripts in the context of the victim's browser. This can be used to steal session cookies, perform actions on behalf of the user, inject advertisements, or redirect visitors to malicious sites. The CVSS v3 base score is 7.1 (High), and the vulnerability is expected to be targeted in mass-exploit campaigns affecting thousands of sites [1].

Mitigation

The vulnerability is resolved in version 2.1.17. Users are strongly advised to update the plugin immediately. For those unable to update, Patchstack provides a virtual patch to block attacks until the update is applied. Given the moderate danger and exploitation potential, immediate action is recommended [1].