CVE-2025-22514

CVE-2025-22514 is an Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation vulnerability, classified as Reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) under CWE-79, in the KNR Author List Widget (knr-author-list-widget) WordPress plugin developed by Yamna Khawaja. This issue affects the plugin from unknown initial versions through version 3.1.1 inclusive. The vulnerability was published on 2025-01-13 with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L).

A remote attacker without privileges can exploit this reflected XSS by crafting a malicious URL that, when visited by a targeted user on a vulnerable site, injects and executes arbitrary JavaScript in the victim's browser context. Exploitation requires user interaction, such as clicking a phishing link, and leverages the changed scope (S:C) to potentially access sensitive data or perform actions within the site's context, resulting in low impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Mitigation details are available in the Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/knr-author-list-widget/vulnerability/wordpress-axact-author-list-widget-plugin-3-1-1-reflected-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve.