Urgent: Cross‑Site Scripting (XSS) in WordPress Tooltips plugin (<= 10.7.9) — What site owners need to know and how to protect WordPress now

Published: 31 Dec 2025   |   CVE: CVE-2025-63005   |   Severity (CVSSv3.1): 6.5 — Medium (UI required, Privilege: Contributor)   |   Affected versions: WordPress Tooltips plugin ≤ 10.7.9

I am a Hong Kong-based WordPress security expert. This advisory provides a focused, practical briefing on the Cross‑Site Scripting (XSS) issue in the WordPress Tooltips plugin (CVE-2025-63005). It explains the risk, which sites are affected, immediate mitigations you can implement now, how to detect potential exploitation, and recommended long‑term hardening steps. The guidance is pragmatic and aimed at site owners, administrators, and developers who must act quickly.

Executive summary

• A Cross‑Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability (CVE‑2025‑63005) affects WordPress Tooltips plugin versions up to and including 10.7.9.
• The vulnerability permits stored or reflected injection of JavaScript/HTML that executes in visitors’ browsers.
• Exploitation requires a user with Contributor‑level privilege (or higher) to add or edit tooltip content; user interaction (UI) is typically required.
• At publication there was no vendor patch available — immediate mitigations are essential.
• Short‑term mitigations: disable the plugin if feasible, reduce Contributor privileges, sanitize or remove untrusted tooltip content, and apply virtual patching controls (WAF or filtering) to block exploit patterns.
• Longer‑term: monitor logs, enforce least privilege, adopt Content Security Policy (CSP), and use a layered security approach (WAF/filters + scanning + backups + incident plan).

What is the vulnerability (high level)

Cross‑Site Scripting (XSS) is a class of vulnerability where an attacker injects client‑side code (commonly JavaScript) into pages viewed by others. The injected script executes in the victim’s browser and can lead to session theft, credential theft via social engineering, content modification, redirection to attacker sites, or loading additional malicious assets.

In this disclosure, the Tooltips plugin fails to correctly sanitize or encode user-supplied tooltip content. Tooltip text or attributes can end up in the page DOM in an interpretable context, allowing a Contributor‑level user to store HTML/JS that executes when other users view the page.

• Affected component: WordPress Tooltips plugin (frontend or admin UI where tooltip content is saved and later rendered).
• Required attacker privilege: Contributor.
• User interaction: Required (e.g., victim opens a page or activates a tooltip).
• CVE identifier: CVE‑2025‑63005.
• As of this advisory, no official patch was available for affected versions.

Who is at risk?

• Sites running WordPress Tooltips plugin versions ≤ 10.7.9.
• Multi‑author blogs and community sites where untrusted users can have Contributor (or higher) roles.
• Agencies or platforms that accept user contributions and use the plugin to render tooltip content.
• Sites that display user‑generated content via the plugin without additional sanitisation.

Note: Because Contributor privilege is required for exploitation, the primary threat vector is registered accounts or compromised accounts with that role. However, review your site configuration — some content flows may expose broader risk depending on customisations.

Practical impact scenarios

1. Stored XSS via tooltip content — a Contributor creates or edits tooltip text containing a script. When other users view the page, the script runs in their browsers. Consequences include session hijacking, content manipulation, silent redirection, or theft of tokens.
2. Targeted privilege escalation — an attacker uses injected script to trigger actions in the admin UI on behalf of logged‑in privileged users (auto‑submitting forms, changing settings).
3. Social engineering / phishing — manipulated tooltip content can present fake dialogs or prompts to trick users into revealing credentials.
4. SEO and reputation damage — injected scripts can add hidden links, run redirects, or serve malicious content that damages SEO or user trust.

Technical note (non‑exploitative)

To avoid assisting attackers, no proof‑of‑concept exploit is published here. Instead, this is a high‑level defensive technical summary to help developers patch or virtual‑patch the issue.

• Root cause: insufficient output encoding / sanitisation of tooltip content before rendering into page HTML. Content is stored and later emitted into the DOM in contexts interpreted as HTML/JS.
• Dangerous sinks: outputs inserted into attributes, innerHTML, or other scriptable contexts (e.g., data attributes consumed by JS).
• Risky patterns to audit:
  • Echoing user fields directly into data attributes without escaping.
  • Using innerHTML or document.write with untrusted content.
  • Allowing HTML tags (for example <img>, <a>) without filtering attributes like onerror, onclick, style, or javascript: URIs.
• Safer alternatives: apply attribute/HTML encoding, strip dangerous attributes or tags server‑side before saving, and whitelist allowed HTML and attributes when necessary.

Immediate mitigations — what to do in the next 60 minutes

If you operate sites with Tooltips ≤ 10.7.9, take these steps now. Prioritise actions according to your operational constraints.

1. Assess exposure: identify which sites have the plugin installed and the plugin version. List pages and posts using tooltip shortcodes or blocks.
2. If feasible, disable the plugin: the safest immediate measure is deactivation until a vendor patch is available. If the plugin is essential, apply the mitigations below.
3. Restrict Contributor and higher privileges: temporarily reduce or audit accounts with Contributor and higher roles. Reset passwords and force reauthentication for contributors if compromise is suspected.
4. Remove or sanitise untrusted tooltip content: audit tooltip entries for suspicious HTML or scripts. Remove tooltip content that contains angle brackets (< or >), javascript: URIs, or attributes like onerror/onload. If tooltip content is stored in meta fields or custom post types, consider export + bulk sanitisation.
5. Harden input saving where possible: if you can edit plugin behaviour quickly, enforce server‑side sanitisation before saving tooltip content. Use WordPress functions such as wp_kses() with a strict allowed HTML set or sanitize_text_field() for plaintext only.
6. Add a Content Security Policy (CSP): a restrictive CSP can reduce the impact of many XSS attacks (for example by disallowing inline scripts). Example header (test carefully for compatibility):

   Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; object-src 'none'; base-uri 'self'; report-uri /csp-report-endpoint;

7. Monitor logs and browser console errors: watch webserver access logs, application logs, and admin activity for anomalies — especially edits from Contributor accounts.
8. Apply virtual patching or input filtering: use request‑level controls (WAF, reverse proxy or application filters) to block or sanitise obvious exploit payloads targeting tooltip save endpoints. See the WAF guidance and sample rules below.
9. Backup now: take immediate backups of files and database so you can restore if needed.

If you use a managed security provider or host that offers application filtering, engage them and provide site details so they can help with protective controls and monitoring.

How a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or request‑filtering should protect you now

A network or application‑level filtering control can mitigate exploitation rapidly when a code patch is not yet available. Recommended approaches:

• Create targeted rules: identify the HTTP endpoints that save tooltip content (admin POST endpoints, admin‑ajax, REST endpoints) and validate/sanitise inputs there.
• Block obvious XSS patterns: deny submissions containing <script, javascript:, data:text/html, or event handler attributes (onerror, onclick).
• Protect rendered responses: where feasible, prevent response bodies from containing suspicious attributes or inline scripts for pages that render tooltips.
• Rate‑limit or challenge contributors: apply stricter rate limits, additional verification, or CAPTCHA for accounts creating tooltip content.
• Test rules in monitoring mode first: to avoid false positives that could block legitimate content, run new rules in learn/log mode before full blocking.

Virtual patching rules (examples for operators)

These pseudo‑rules are guidance for teams operating WAFs, reverse proxies, or request filters. Test them in staging before deploying to production.

- Rule 1: Block script tags in tooltip submissions
  Condition: Request path matches tooltip save endpoint AND request body contains regex /<\s*script/i
  Action: Block and log

- Rule 2: Block event handler attributes
  Condition: Request body contains regex /\son[a-z]+\s*=/i  (captures onload=, onerror=, onclick=)
  Action: Challenge (CAPTCHA) OR block

- Rule 3: Block javascript: and data: URIs
  Condition: Request body contains regex /(javascript|data):\s*/i
  Action: Block and log

- Rule 4: Monitor suspicious encoding
  Condition: Request body contains long sequences of %3C or %3E or eval\( — indicating encoded payloads
  Action: Log with high priority and block if repeated or paired with suspicious accounts

Combine pattern checks with reputation (IP reputation), account role (Contributor vs Admin), and behavioural heuristics (sudden bulk edits) to reduce false positives.

Detection and incident response

If you suspect an XSS attempt or successful exploitation, follow this incident playbook.

1. Containment

• Deactivate the Tooltips plugin if you suspect active exploitation.
• Temporarily revoke Contributor editing rights or restrict access to tooltip editing UIs.

2. Preservation

• Create a full backup of files and database (do not overwrite logs).
• Preserve logs: webserver access logs, application logs, and any filtering appliance logs showing matched payloads.

3. Triage & investigation

• Search stored tooltip entities for suspicious patterns (<script, onerror, javascript:, eval(, data:text/html).
• Identify the originating accounts and their IP addresses.
• Check for suspicious logins, password resets, or unusual admin activity.

4. Remediation

• Remove or sanitise malicious tooltip entries.
• Rotate credentials and reset sessions for accounts that may be compromised.
• Apply request‑level filters or virtual patches to block further attempts.

5. Recovery

• Reopen functionality only after confirming remediation and monitoring for recurrence.
• Consider staged reactivation: enable the plugin in a maintenance window and observe logs closely.

6. Post‑incident

• Review privilege assignments and tighten role allocations.
• Train contributors on safe content practices (avoid pasting HTML, external scripts).
• Subscribe to plugin security notifications and patch promptly when updates are released.

Developer guidance: how to fix the plugin (for maintainers or developers)

If you maintain the plugin or a custom fork, fix the root cause rather than only mitigating at the edge.

1. Identify sinks: locate every place tooltip content is rendered (PHP templates, JS templates, REST responses).
2. Apply output encoding: for HTML body use esc_html() or wp_kses_post() with strict whitelist; for attributes use esc_attr(). Avoid placing untrusted content in event handler attributes.
3. Avoid innerHTML and unsafe DOM operations: use textContent or properly encoded setAttribute. If HTML is required, sanitise server‑side and strip event handlers and scriptable URIs.
4. Use WordPress sanitisation APIs: apply wp_kses() on save with a strict allowed tags/attributes list, or sanitize_text_field() for plaintext fields.
5. Add logging and alerts: log attempts to save disallowed content and notify administrators where appropriate.
6. Audit other plugin functionality: ensure REST endpoints and AJAX handlers check capabilities and verify nonces (current_user_can checks should be appropriate and granular).

If you are a plugin developer, coordinate with a security reviewer and publish a fixed release with clear release notes so site owners can respond quickly.

Hardening WordPress to reduce XSS risk

• Principle of least privilege: assign minimum roles and avoid giving Contributor or Editor roles unnecessarily.
• Sanitise user input: all HTML‑accepting fields must be sanitised server‑side on save.
• Escape all output: use esc_html(), esc_attr(), esc_url() consistently in themes and plugins.
• Content Security Policy: correctly implemented CSP reduces the impact of many XSS chains.
• Request‑level filtering: WAFs or proxies that perform targeted filtering can block many exploit attempts.
• Regular scanning: perform automated scans for XSS and OWASP Top 10 issues.
• Backups and restore testing: ensure backups are taken regularly and restores are tested.
• Audit plugins: remove unused plugins and prefer actively maintained components.
• Logging and anomaly detection: centralise logs and look for spikes in edits, new users, or suspicious POST payloads.

Example detection queries and checks

Useful searches for stored tooltip content. Adapt to your environment and test carefully.

-- Example SQL search (adjust table prefix as needed)
SELECT * FROM wp_postmeta
WHERE meta_key LIKE '%tooltip%'
  AND meta_value LIKE '%<script%';

-- Search for event handler attributes
SELECT * FROM wp_postmeta
WHERE meta_key LIKE '%tooltip%'
  AND (meta_value LIKE '%onerror=%' OR meta_value LIKE '%onclick=%');

Also check revision history for recent edits by suspect accounts and review filtering/proxy logs for blocked requests matching script or event handler rules.

Communication with users and contributors

If your site accepts contributor submissions, provide a brief note explaining temporary restrictions or editorial review. Keep the message clear:

• Why the restriction is in place (to protect the site and community).
• What safe content practices to follow (avoid pasting raw HTML or external embeds).
• How to contact editors if their content is affected.

Incident checklist (quick printable list)

• Identify sites using Tooltips plugin (versions ≤ 10.7.9).
• Backup files and database immediately.
• Deactivate plugin or restrict editing privileges.
• Audit tooltip content for script tags and suspicious attributes.
• Apply request‑level filters to block script/event patterns.
• Rotate passwords and force session resets for suspect accounts.
• Monitor logs for repeated attempts and anomalous edits.
• If compromised, follow containment → preservation → remediation steps.

Why virtual patching matters

When a vendor patch is not yet available, virtual patching (request filtering at the edge) provides time‑critical protection. It blocks or sanitises the inputs that would enable exploitation without changing application code. Virtual patching is a practical stopgap while you implement permanent fixes in code or apply vendor updates.

Long‑term remediation and best practice roadmap

1. Patch management program: track plugin versions centrally and subscribe to security advisories for components you use.
2. Least privilege and account hygiene: periodic privilege reviews, remove dormant accounts, enforce MFA for privileged roles.
3. Developer training: ensure theme and plugin authors follow secure output encoding and input sanitisation practices.
4. Security testing in CI: include SAST/DAST scans for in‑house plugins and themes.
5. Logging and monitoring: centralise logs and set alerts for suspicious behaviour.
6. Incident response drills: run tabletop exercises for typical WordPress incidents.
7. Backup validation: regularly test restores to validate backups.

How to prioritise security alerts

To avoid alert fatigue, prioritise based on:

• Whether the vulnerable component is actively used on your site.
• The privileges required for exploitation.
• Whether an official patch or vendor mitigation is available.

Maintain an up‑to‑date inventory of installed plugins and their criticality. Subscribe to trusted security mailing lists and official plugin update notices.

FAQ

Q: If I remove the plugin, will my tooltip content be lost?

A: Deactivating typically preserves plugin data in the database. Export or back up your data before removing the plugin if you need to ensure data retention.

Q: My site does not allow Contributors — am I safe?

A: Risk is lower but not zero. Attackers can sometimes escalate privileges or exploit other plugins. Reducing roles and enforcing MFA reduces attack surface.

Q: Should I wait for the plugin author to release a patch?

A: Coordinate an update if available. If the plugin is critical and no patch exists, apply request‑level filtering, sanitisation, and privilege restrictions immediately. Virtual patching and content sanitisation can buy you time.

Q: Is CSP a silver bullet?

A: No single control is a silver bullet. CSP can significantly reduce the risk of many XSS chains but works best as part of layered defences.

Final thoughts

XSS continues to be a common vector because dynamic content and user input intersect with page rendering. This Tooltips plugin issue demonstrates how a seemingly minor UI feature can create meaningful risk. Treat third‑party plugins as dependencies that require tracking, testing, and prompt updates.

Key takeaways:

• Treat plugin security like any other dependency — monitor, test, and patch promptly.
• Enforce least privilege and educate contributors.
• Use layered protections: input filtering, response sanitisation, CSP, monitoring and backups.

If you need hands‑on help with triage, detection queries, or deploying request‑level protections, consult a trusted security professional familiar with WordPress operations and incident response.

Advisory prepared by a Hong Kong security expert. Technical content provided for defensive purposes only.