📄 Description (English)
The WordPress PayPal Donation plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the 'donate' shortcode in all versions up to, and including, 1.01. This is due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user-supplied shortcode attributes such as 'amount', 'email', 'title', 'return_url', 'cancel_url', 'ccode', and 'image'. The wordpress_paypal_donation_create() function uses extract(shortcode_atts(...)) to process shortcode attributes and then directly interpolates these values into HTML output within single-quoted attribute values without any escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-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 WordPress PayPal Donation plugin (versions ≤1.01) contains a Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in its donation shortcode that allows authenticated contributors to inject malicious scripts into pages. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input sanitization and output escaping of shortcode attributes including amount, email, title, and URLs. While requiring authenticated access, this poses significant risk to WordPress sites accepting donations, particularly those with multiple content contributors or compromised accounts.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: May 16, 2026 15:19
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
Saudi organizations using WordPress for donation collection—particularly NGOs, charitable foundations, religious institutions, and healthcare facilities—face elevated risk. The vulnerability is especially critical for SAMA-regulated fintech platforms and payment processors integrating PayPal donations. Government entities and educational institutions accepting online donations are also at risk. The stored nature of the XSS means malicious scripts persist and execute for all site visitors, potentially compromising donor data, session tokens, and financial information. Organizations with multiple content contributors or outsourced content management face heightened exposure.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Charitable Organizations & NGOs
Religious Institutions
Healthcare Facilities
Educational Institutions
Government Agencies
Fintech & Payment Processors
E-commerce Platforms
Media & Publishing
🎯 MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
6.8
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS:
1. Disable the PayPal Donation plugin immediately until patched
2. Audit all pages and posts using the 'donate' shortcode for injected malicious content
3. Review contributor access logs for suspicious shortcode modifications
4. Reset passwords for all contributor-level and above accounts
5. Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect XSS payloads in shortcode attributes
PATCHING GUIDANCE:
1. Monitor the plugin repository for security updates (currently no patch available)
2. Contact plugin developers requesting immediate security patch
3. Consider alternative donation plugins with active security maintenance
4. If plugin is critical, implement custom code review and sanitization layer
COMPENSATING CONTROLS (if plugin must remain active):
1. Restrict 'donate' shortcode usage to administrator-only pages
2. Implement strict contributor role restrictions—disable shortcode editing capabilities
3. Enable WordPress security plugins (Wordfence, Sucuri) with XSS detection rules
4. Deploy Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to prevent inline script execution
5. Implement output escaping via custom WordPress filters on shortcode rendering
DETECTION RULES:
1. Monitor database for shortcode attributes containing: <script>, javascript:, onerror=, onload=, onclick=
2. Alert on modifications to posts/pages containing 'donate' shortcode by non-admin users
3. Log all contributor-level account activities
4. Implement SIEM rules for XSS payload patterns in HTTP requests
5. Monitor for unusual JavaScript execution in donation pages via browser console logs
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تعطيل مكون PayPal Donation فوراً حتى يتم إصلاحه
2. تدقيق جميع الصفحات والمنشورات التي تستخدم اختصار 'donate' للبحث عن محتوى ضار مُحقون
3. مراجعة سجلات وصول المساهمين للبحث عن تعديلات مريبة على الاختصار
4. إعادة تعيين كلمات المرور لجميع حسابات المساهمين والمستويات الأعلى
5. تنفيذ قواعد جدار الحماية لتطبيقات الويب (WAF) للكشف عن حمولات XSS في خصائص الاختصار
إرشادات التصحيح:
1. مراقبة مستودع المكون للتحديثات الأمنية (لا يوجد تصحيح متاح حالياً)
2. الاتصال بمطوري المكون لطلب تصحيح أمني فوري
3. النظر في مكونات التبرع البديلة ذات الصيانة الأمنية النشطة
4. إذا كان المكون حرجاً، قم بتنفيذ طبقة مراجعة وتنظيف كود مخصصة
الضوابط التعويضية:
1. تقييد استخدام اختصار 'donate' على صفحات المسؤول فقط
2. تنفيذ قيود دور المساهم الصارمة - تعطيل قدرات تحرير الاختصار
3. تفعيل مكونات أمان WordPress (Wordfence, Sucuri) مع قواعد كشف XSS
4. نشر رؤوس Content Security Policy (CSP) لمنع تنفيذ البرامج النصية المضمنة
5. تنفيذ الهروب من المخرجات عبر مرشحات WordPress المخصصة على عرض الاختصار
قواعد الكشف:
1. مراقبة قاعدة البيانات لخصائص الاختصار التي تحتوي على: <script>, javascript:, onerror=, onload=, onclick=
2. التنبيه على تعديلات المنشورات/الصفحات التي تحتوي على اختصار 'donate' من قبل مستخدمين غير المسؤول
3. تسجيل جميع أنشطة حسابات المساهمين
4. تنفيذ قواعد SIEM لأنماط حمولات XSS في طلبات HTTP
5. مراقبة تنفيذ JavaScript غير العادي في صفحات التبرع عبر سجلات وحدة التحكم بالمتصفح
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
ECC 2024 A.14.2.1 - Information security requirements for supplier relationships (plugin vendor security)
ECC 2024 A.14.2.5 - Addressing information security in supplier agreements
ECC 2024 A.12.6.1 - Management of technical vulnerabilities
ECC 2024 A.12.2.1 - Establishment of information security baselines
🔵 SAMA CSF
SAMA CSF ID.BE-1 - Business Environment (donation processing security)
SAMA CSF PR.AC-1 - Access Control (contributor role restrictions)
SAMA CSF PR.DS-2 - Data Security (output encoding and input validation)
SAMA CSF DE.CM-1 - Detection and Analysis (XSS detection monitoring)
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
ISO 27001:2022 A.5.15 - Supplier relationships
ISO 27001:2022 A.8.1 - User endpoint devices
ISO 27001:2022 A.8.3 - Access control
ISO 27001:2022 A.8.24 - Cryptography and encoding
ISO 27001:2022 A.12.6 - Management of technical vulnerabilities
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0.1
PCI DSS 6.5.7 - Cross-site scripting (XSS)
PCI DSS 6.2 - Security patches and updates
PCI DSS 7.1 - Limit access to system components by business need to know
🔗 References & Sources 5
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https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wordpress-paypal-donation/tags/1.01/wp-paypa...
security@wordfence.com
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wordpress-paypal-donation/tags/1.01/wp-paypa...
security@wordfence.com
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wordpress-paypal-donation/trunk/wp-paypal-do...
security@wordfence.com
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wordpress-paypal-donation/trunk/wp-paypal-do...
security@wordfence.com
https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/99a8b48b-2967-4179-a0eb-626bb...
security@wordfence.com