CVE-2025-22514: 
WordPress vulnerability analysis and mitigation

The KNR Author List Widget plugin for WordPress contains a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability (CVE-2025-22514) affecting versions up to and including 3.1.1. The vulnerability was discovered by João Pedro Soares de Alcântara and was publicly disclosed on January 7, 2025 (WPScan, Patchstack).

The vulnerability stems from insufficient input sanitization and output escaping in the KNR Author List Widget plugin. It has been assigned a CVSS score of 6.1 (Medium) according to WPScan, while Patchstack rates it at 7.1. The vulnerability is classified under OWASP Top 10 category A7: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) and CWE-79 (WPScan, Patchstack).

The vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts into pages that will execute when users perform specific actions, such as clicking on a malicious link. This could enable attackers to inject malicious scripts, redirects, advertisements, and other HTML payloads that would be executed when visitors access the affected site (Patchstack).

Currently, there is no official fix available for this vulnerability. However, Patchstack has issued a virtual patch to mitigate the issue by blocking potential attacks until an official fix becomes available. Website administrators are advised to implement the mitigation immediately (Patchstack).