dbcve.org
Footer TextWordPress extension · Footer Text Project

CVE-2022-27860

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-04-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.0.3 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
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) leading to Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) in Shea Bunge's Footer Text plugin <= 2.0.3 on WordPress.

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

A Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Footer Text WordPress plugin (versions 2.0.3 and below) allows authenticated attackers to inject malicious JavaScript via crafted requests, leading to stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). The plugin fails to properly validate nonce tokens on administrative actions, enabling attackers to trick logged-in administrators into executing unintended code.

MitigationUpgrade to Footer Text plugin version 2.0.4 or later, which includes proper CSRF token validation. Until patched, avoid clicking untrusted links while logged into the WordPress admin panel.

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
Footer TextWordPress extension
Affected:<= 2.0.3

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. Locate Footer Text plugin version
    Access the WordPress admin dashboard, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins, and locate 'Footer Text' or 'Project Footer Text' in the list to view the installed version number. Alternatively, check the plugin's main PHP file (e.g., wp-content/plugins/footer-text/project-footer-text.php) for the 'Version' header in the plugin comment block.
    Affected if The displayed version is 2.0.3 or lower (any version <= 2.0.3).
  2. Verify plugin is active
    In the WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed Plugins, confirm whether the Footer Text plugin shows as 'Active' rather than 'Inactive' or 'Must-Use'.
    Affected if The plugin is currently active and the version is <= 2.0.3.
  3. Check plugin settings for unauthorized changes
    Navigate to the plugin's settings page (typically under Settings > Footer Text or similar) and inspect the footer text configuration fields. Look for unexpected JavaScript tags, script elements, or HTML attributes like 'onload' or 'onerror' that were not intentionally added.
    Affected if The plugin settings contain suspicious JavaScript code, unexpected script tags, or XSS payloads that were not authored by the legitimate administrator.
  4. Review WordPress options database
    Query the wp_options table (via phpMyAdmin or WP-CLI: wp db query "SELECT * FROM wp_options WHERE option_name LIKE '%footer%'") to examine stored footer text values for encoded or obfuscated malicious content.
    Affected if Stored option values contain base64-encoded scripts, event handlers, or other XSS vectors that do not match expected footer text content.

A user is affected if the Footer Text plugin version is 2.0.3 or lower and the plugin is active, since this version lacks proper nonce validation and is vulnerable to CSRF-induced stored XSS attacks.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.0.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Footer Text plugin version 2.0.4 or later, which includes proper CSRF token validation. Until patched, avoid clicking untrusted links while logged into the WordPress admin panel.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Upgrade to Footer Text plugin version 2.0.4 or later

  1. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate the Footer Text plugin
  4. Check the current version installed
  5. If the installed version is 2.0.3 or lower, navigate to Plugins > Add New > Upload or search for Footer Text in the WordPress plugin repository
  6. Update to the latest available version which contains the security fix

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Footer Text Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

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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-2022-27860 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