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Easy Digital DownloadsWordPress extension · Awesomemotive

CVE-2015-9520

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-10-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.8.7 / 1.9.10 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) Per Product Emails extension for WordPress, as used with EDD 1.8.x before 1.8.7, 1.9.x before 1.9.10, 2.0.x before 2.0.5, 2.1.x before 2.1.11, 2.2.x before 2.2.9, and 2.3.x before 2.3.7, has XSS because add_query_arg is misused.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The Easy Digital Downloads Per Product Emails WordPress extension suffers from a reflected XSS vulnerability due to misuse of the add_query_arg() function. The function was used to construct URLs without proper output encoding, allowing malicious scripts to be injected via query parameters and executed in the context of the user's browser.

MitigationUpdate the Easy Digital Downloads plugin to version 1.8.7, 1.9.10, 2.0.5, 2.1.11, 2.2.9, or 2.3.7 (or later) to resolve the XSS vulnerability. Alternatively, ensure all output using add_query_arg is properly escaped with esc_url() or esc_attr() before rendering.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Easy Digital DownloadsWordPress extension
Affected:>= 1.8, < 1.8.7>= 1.9, < 1.9.10>= 2.0, < 2.0.5>= 2.1, < 2.1.11>= 2.2, < 2.2.9>= 2.3, < 2.3.7
Per Product EmailsApplication
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Easy Digital Downloads is installed
    Check the WordPress plugins directory (wp-content/plugins/easy-digital-downloads/) or view the installed plugins in WordPress admin. Look for the main plugin file (e.g., easy-digital-downloads.php) and locate the version constant or header.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and running any version within the affected ranges (1.8 to 1.8.6, 1.9 to 1.9.9, 2.0 to 2.0.4, 2.1 to 2.1.10, 2.2 to 2.2.8, or 2.3 to 2.3.6).
  2. Confirm Per Product Emails extension is active
    Check for the Per Product Emails extension in wp-content/plugins/edd-per-product-emails/ or verify in WordPress admin under the EDD extensions list.
    Affected if The Per Product Emails extension is installed and active (all versions are affected).
  3. Compare installed EDD version against affected ranges
    Read the version number from the plugin file header or main file (look for 'Version:' in the plugin comment block or a version constant). Compare against: >=1.8 and <1.8.7; >=1.9 and <1.9.10; >=2.0 and <2.0.5; >=2.1 and <2.1.11; >=2.2 and <2.2.9; >=2.3 and <2.3.7.
    Affected if The installed version falls into any of these ranges.
  4. Inspect add_query_arg usage in plugin code
    Search the plugin source files (particularly in the Per Product Emails extension) for add_query_arg function calls. Open the relevant PHP files and verify whether the output is wrapped with esc_url(), esc_attr(), or similar output encoding functions before being rendered in HTML.
    Affected if add_query_arg is used to build URLs that are later output without proper escaping via esc_url(), esc_attr(), or esc_html().

Your environment is affected if Easy Digital Downloads (any version below 1.8.7, 1.9.10, 2.0.5, 2.1.11, 2.2.9, or 2.3.7) or the Per Product Emails extension is installed and the code contains add_query_arg calls that are not escaped with esc_url or esc_attr before output.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.8.7 / 1.9.10 / 2.0.5 or later
Fixed in 1.8.71.9.102.0.5
Interim mitigation

Update the Easy Digital Downloads plugin to version 1.8.7, 1.9.10, 2.0.5, 2.1.11, 2.2.9, or 2.3.7 (or later) to resolve the XSS vulnerability. Alternatively, ensure all output using add_query_arg is properly escaped with esc_url() or esc_attr() before rendering.

Fix this in Easy Digital Downloads Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-9520 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data