CVE-2022-4005 is a medium-severity Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting the Donation Button WordPress plugin up to version 4.0.0. The vulnerability arises because the plugin fails to properly sanitize and escape certain input parameters. This flaw allows users with a Contributor role or higher—roles that typically have limited privileges—to inject malicious scripts into the web application. When these scripts are executed in the context of other users, they can lead to unauthorized actions such as session hijacking, defacement, or redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79, indicating improper neutralization of input during web page generation. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.4 (medium), reflecting that the attack vector is network-based (AV:N), requires low attack complexity (AC:L), needs privileges (PR:L) but only a low-level role, requires user interaction (UI:R), and impacts confidentiality and integrity with a scope change (S:C). No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no official patches have been linked yet. Given the plugin’s integration with WordPress—a widely used content management system—this vulnerability could be leveraged to compromise websites that accept user-generated content from contributors, such as blogs, non-profit organizations, and donation platforms. The scope change in the CVSS vector indicates that exploitation could affect resources beyond the initially vulnerable component, potentially impacting the entire WordPress site or its users.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be significant, especially for non-profits, charities, and small to medium enterprises that rely on WordPress and the Donation Button plugin to manage online donations. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized script execution, resulting in theft of user credentials, defacement of donation pages, or redirection of donors to fraudulent sites, thereby damaging organizational reputation and trust. Confidential donor information could be exposed or manipulated, violating GDPR requirements and leading to regulatory penalties. The integrity of donation data could be compromised, affecting financial reporting and donor relations. Since contributors typically have limited privileges, the vulnerability lowers the barrier for attackers to perform impactful attacks without needing administrator access. Although availability is not directly impacted, the reputational damage and potential data breaches could have long-term operational consequences. Additionally, the scope change suggests that the vulnerability could be leveraged to escalate attacks beyond the plugin, potentially affecting other parts of the WordPress site and its users.

1. Immediate mitigation involves restricting the Contributor role’s ability to input or submit content through the Donation Button plugin until a patch is available. 2. Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules that detect and block typical XSS payloads targeting the plugin’s input parameters. 3. Conduct a thorough review and hardening of user input sanitization and escaping mechanisms within the plugin’s codebase, applying manual patches if feasible. 4. Monitor logs for suspicious activity related to Contributor accounts, including unusual script injections or content modifications. 5. Educate site administrators to audit user roles and permissions regularly, minimizing the number of users with Contributor or higher privileges. 6. Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict script execution sources, mitigating the impact of injected scripts. 7. Stay alert for official patches or updates from the plugin vendor or WordPress security advisories and apply them promptly. 8. Consider temporarily disabling or replacing the Donation Button plugin with alternative secure donation management solutions if immediate patching is not possible.