📄 Description (English)
The Image Alt Text Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the post title in all versions up to, and including, 1.8.2. This is due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping when dynamically generating image alt and title attributes using a DOM parser. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Author-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
The Image Alt Text Manager WordPress plugin (versions ≤1.8.2) contains a Stored XSS vulnerability allowing authenticated authors to inject malicious scripts into post titles. These scripts execute when users view affected pages, potentially compromising website visitors and enabling credential theft or malware distribution. While requiring author-level access, this vulnerability poses significant risk to Saudi organizations using WordPress for public-facing content.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: May 16, 2026 12:37
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
High risk for Saudi government agencies, municipalities, and public institutions using WordPress for citizen-facing portals. Media and publishing organizations, educational institutions, and healthcare facilities publishing patient information are particularly vulnerable. E-commerce platforms and banking websites using WordPress for content management face reputational and compliance risks. The vulnerability is especially concerning for organizations under SAMA and NCA oversight, as compromised websites could facilitate phishing attacks targeting Saudi financial sector users.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Government and Public Administration
Media and Publishing
Education
Healthcare
E-commerce
Banking and Financial Services
Telecommunications
🎯 MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
6.8
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS:
1. Audit all WordPress installations using Image Alt Text Manager plugin versions ≤1.8.2
2. Review user access logs for suspicious author-level account activities in the past 90 days
3. Disable the plugin immediately if not critical to operations
PATCHING GUIDANCE:
1. Contact plugin developer for security update timeline
2. Monitor official plugin repository for patch release
3. Once patched, update to latest version immediately
4. Test updates in staging environment before production deployment
COMPENSATING CONTROLS (until patch available):
1. Restrict author-level access to trusted personnel only; implement principle of least privilege
2. Enable WordPress security plugins (Wordfence, Sucuri) with XSS detection rules
3. Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to prevent inline script execution
4. Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules blocking script injection patterns in POST requests
5. Enable WordPress audit logging for post/page modifications
DETECTION RULES:
1. Monitor for posts/pages containing <script>, javascript:, onerror=, onload= in title fields
2. Alert on author-level user account creation or privilege escalation
3. Track modifications to posts by newly created or suspicious accounts
4. Monitor HTTP responses for unexpected script tags in image alt/title attributes
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تدقيق جميع تثبيتات ووردبريس التي تستخدم مكون Image Alt Text Manager الإصدارات ≤1.8.2
2. مراجعة سجلات الوصول للكشف عن أنشطة حسابات مريبة على مستوى المؤلف في آخر 90 يوماً
3. تعطيل المكون فوراً إذا لم يكن حرجاً للعمليات
إرشادات التصحيح:
1. التواصل مع مطور المكون بشأن جدول زمني لتحديث الأمان
2. مراقبة مستودع المكون الرسمي لإصدار التصحيح
3. بعد التصحيح، قم بالتحديث إلى أحدث إصدار فوراً
4. اختبر التحديثات في بيئة التطوير قبل نشرها في الإنتاج
الضوابط البديلة (حتى توفر التصحيح):
1. تقييد وصول مستوى المؤلف للموظفين الموثوقين فقط؛ تطبيق مبدأ أقل امتياز
2. تفعيل مكونات أمان ووردبريس (Wordfence, Sucuri) مع قواعد كشف XSS
3. تطبيق رؤوس سياسة أمان المحتوى (CSP) لمنع تنفيذ البرامج النصية المضمنة
4. نشر قواعد جدار حماية تطبيقات الويب (WAF) لحجب أنماط حقن البرامج النصية في طلبات POST
5. تفعيل تسجيل تدقيق ووردبريس لتعديلات المنشورات/الصفحات
قواعد الكشف:
1. مراقبة المنشورات/الصفحات التي تحتوي على <script>، javascript:، onerror=، onload= في حقول العنوان
2. تنبيه عند إنشاء حساب مستخدم على مستوى المؤلف أو ترقية الامتيازات
3. تتبع تعديلات المنشورات بواسطة حسابات مريبة أو حديثة الإنشاء
4. مراقبة استجابات HTTP للبحث عن علامات برامج نصية غير متوقعة في سمات alt/title للصور
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
A.14.2.1 - Secure development policy (input validation and output encoding requirements)
A.14.2.5 - Secure development environment
A.12.6.1 - Management of technical vulnerabilities
A.12.2.1 - Monitoring of information systems
🔵 SAMA CSF
ID.GV-1 - Organizational processes to manage cybersecurity risk
PR.DS-1 - Data security management
PR.IP-1 - Security policies and processes
DE.CM-1 - Detection and analysis of anomalies
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
A.14.2.1 - Secure development policy
A.14.2.5 - Secure development environment
A.12.6.1 - Management of technical vulnerabilities
A.14.3.1 - Separation of development, test and production environments
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0.1
6.5.1 - Injection flaws prevention
6.5.7 - Cross-site scripting (XSS) prevention
6.2 - Security patches and updates
🔗 References & Sources 4
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https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/alt-manager/tags/1.8.2/inc/alm-empty-generat...
security@wordfence.com
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/alt-manager/tags/1.8.2/inc/alm-empty-generat...
security@wordfence.com
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&old=347953...
security@wordfence.com
https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/cc09377b-f30b-414b-a551-d3689...
security@wordfence.com