WordPress Security Audit Checklist for Production Sites
A WordPress security audit checklist should produce clear remediation actions, not a long report nobody executes. Use this guide to review core, plugins, themes.
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The Avada (Fusion) Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via multiple shortcodes in all versions up to, and including, 3.15.2 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user (typically an administrator) accesses a page displaying dynamic user data (such as via the Dynamic Data feature pulling user biographical information).
Update to version 3.15.3, or a newer patched version
The Avada Builder (fusion-builder) plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution via PHP Function Injection in versions up to and including 3.15.2. This is due to the `wp_conditional_tags` case in `Fusion_Builder_Conditional_Render_Helper::get_value()` passing attacker-controlled values from a base64-decoded JSON blob directly to `call_user_func()` without any allowlist validation. This is exploitable by unauthenticated attackers through the `fusion_get_widget_markup` AJAX endpoint, which is registered for non-privileged (unauthenticated) users via `wp_ajax_nopriv_fusion_get_widget_markup`. The endpoint is protected only by a nonce (`fusion_load_nonce`), but this nonce is generated for user ID 0 and is deterministically exposed in the JavaScript output of any public-facing page containing a Post Cards (`[fusion_post_cards]`) or Table of Contents (`[fusion_table_of_contents]`) element. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected sites.
Update to version 3.15.3, or a newer patched version
The WPB Floating Menu & Categories for WordPress – Sticky Side Menu with Icons plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the 'Icon CSS Class' category field in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.8 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Editor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.
Update to version 1.0.9, or a newer patched version
The Broadstreet plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference in all versions up to, and including, 1.52.2 via the get_sponsored_meta AJAX action due to missing validation on a user controlled key. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to disclose any private post metadata.
Update to version 1.53.2, or a newer patched version
The Divi Form Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in versions up to, and including, 5.1.2. This is due to the plugin accepting a user-controlled 'role' parameter from POST data during user registration without validating it against the form's configured default_user_role setting. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to create administrator accounts by tampering with the role parameter during registration.
Update to version 5.1.3, or a newer patched version
The Slider Revolution plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in versions up to, and including, 7.0.9 via the 'get_stream_data()' function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to extract sensitive data including published password-protected post, page, and product content.
Update to version 7.0.10, or a newer patched version
The AcyMailing – An Ultimate Newsletter Plugin and Marketing Automation Solution for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Missing Authorization in versions up to, and including, 10.8.2. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to modify privileged AcyMailing configuration, export subscriber secret keys, and chain these actions into administrator account takeover when a target administrator email address is known.
Update to version 10.9.0, or a newer patched version
The Anomify AI – Anomaly Detection and Alerting plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) leading to Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) in versions up to and including 0.3.6. This is due to missing nonce verification on the settings page handler and insufficient output escaping in the admin_options.php template. The settings form includes no wp_nonce_field() and the handler performs no check_admin_referer() check, meaning any cross-origin POST can modify plugin settings. The API key field is sanitized only with sanitize_text_field(), which strips HTML tags but does not encode double-quote characters; the value is then rendered into an HTML attribute via bare echo without esc_attr(), allowing a double-quote attribute-escape payload to survive both sanitization and storage. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts by tricking a logged-in administrator into visiting a malicious page that submits a forged request, storing the payload in the database and causing it to execute in the administrator's browser whenever the plugin settings page is visited.
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
The AI Chatbot & Workflow Automation by AIWU plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the 'X-Forwarded-For' header in versions up to, and including, 1.4.14 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page. NOTE: Practical exploitation is constrained due to a 20-character storage limit.
Update to version 1.4.15, or a newer patched version
The Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference in versions up to and including 4.2.0. This is due to insufficient object-level authorization in the image deletion REST flow where the permission callback for DELETE /imagely/v1/images/{id} only checks 'NextGEN Manage gallery' permissions and does not enforce gallery ownership or 'NextGEN Manage others gallery' permissions. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level privileges and 'NextGEN Manage gallery' capability, to delete gallery images belonging to other users as well as their associated image files from disk when deleteImg is enabled (default).
Update to version 4.2.1, or a newer patched version
Use hub pages to review all indexed records for a single WordPress plugin or theme instead of scanning the global feed one advisory at a time.
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