| Plugin Name | Templatera |
|---|---|
| Type of Vulnerability | XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) |
| CVE Number | CVE-2025-54747 |
| Urgency | Low |
| CVE Publish Date | 2025-08-14 |
| Source URL | CVE-2025-54747 |
WordPress Templatera (≤ 2.3.0) — XSS advisory, impact, and mitigation
Author: Hong Kong Security Expert
Date: 14 August 2025
Summary: A Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting the Templatera plugin (versions ≤ 2.3.0) was publicly disclosed and assigned CVE-2025-54747. A user with Contributor-level privileges can inject JavaScript/HTML into templates that may execute in administrators’ or visitors’ browsers. The vendor fixed the issue in version 2.4.0. This advisory explains the risk, attack vectors, containment steps, full remediation, and practical mitigations until you apply the vendor fix.
What was reported
A Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability was disclosed in the Templatera plugin for WordPress (versions up to and including 2.3.0). The issue is tracked as CVE-2025-54747 and was published in mid-August 2025. The developer released a fixed version 2.4.0.
- Vulnerability type: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
- CVE: CVE-2025-54747
- Affected versions: Templatera ≤ 2.3.0
- Fixed in: 2.4.0
- Reported by: independent researcher (credited)
- Required privilege: Contributor (able to create or edit templates)
- CVSS: vendor/patch author indicated a score around 6.5 (context matters)
Why this matters — threat model and impact
XSS lets an attacker place JavaScript or HTML that executes in a victim’s browser. Practical impacts include:
- Stealing session tokens or authentication cookies (particularly if cookies are not HttpOnly).
- Performing privileged actions in the context of an administrator’s session (CSRF + XSS).
- Persistent site defacement, malicious redirects, cryptojacking, or unwanted ads.
- Delivering secondary payloads to visitors (malicious JavaScript loading external malware).
This issue is notable because Contributor-level accounts — commonly used for guest authors or external content creators — can exploit it, and templates are reusable across pages and admin screens.
Who is at risk
- Sites running Templatera ≤ 2.3.0.
- Sites that permit untrusted or semi-trusted users to register and act at Contributor level (or higher).
- Multisite networks where templates are shared across sites.
- Sites lacking strong session/cookie protections (missing HttpOnly, SameSite, secure flags) or without admin-side browser protections (e.g., CSP).
If your site matches any of the above, treat this as actionable and prioritize containment and remediation.
Indicators of compromise (IoCs) and detection tips
Check for evidence of XSS abuse by searching for injected scripts or unusual template content. Look for:
- Unexpected JavaScript in template content (search wp_posts, wp_postmeta, or wherever templates are stored).
- New or modified templates authored by users who shouldn’t edit templates (review post_author and post_modified).
- Suspicious HTML attributes in template names, titles, descriptions or content: inline
