Prevent XSS Vulnerability vs WPVulnerability

This plugin helps safeguard your website against two common types of Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities: Reflected XSS: This happens when harmful scripts are hidden in a website’s URL. If a user clicks a link with such a script, it can run in their browser, potentially stealing their data or taking control of their system. Self-XSS: This occurs when a user’s own input on your website is displayed back to them in an unsafe way, allowing malicious scripts to run in their browser. This plugin provides several layers of protection: Blocking: When active, the plugin checks URLs for specific characters. If it finds any of these characters in the URL, it redirects the user to prevent a potential XSS attack. You can customize which characters to block or allow. Opening Round Bracket ( Closing Round Bracket ) Less than Sign Opening Square Bracket [ Closing Square Bracket ] Opening Curly Bracket { Pipe or Vertical Bar | Closing Curly Bracket } Encoding: For an extra layer of security, the plugin encodes certain characters found in URL parameters. This stops harmful code from running, even if it’s present in the URL. You can also choose to exclude specific parameters from being encoded. Exclamation Mark ! Double Quotation " Single Quotation ' Opening Round Bracket ( Closing Round Bracket ) Asterisk Sign * Less than Sign Grave Accent “` Cap Sign ^ Opening Square Bracket [ Closing Square Bracket ] Opening Curly Bracket { Pipe or Vertical Bar | Closing Curly Bracket } Escaping HTML in $_GET: This plugin automatically makes HTML characters safe within the $_GET variable. This is vital if your website pulls data from URLs and displays it as part of your web page. It helps prevent malicious scripts from being injected through user-provided input. Important Notes: After activating the plugin, thoroughly test your website forms, especially if you use WooCommerce. Make sure the plugin doesn’t interfere with your shopping cart and checkout processes. We welcome bug reports for this plugin on GitHub: https://github.com/samiahmedsiddiqui/prevent-xss-vulnerability/issues. Please remember that GitHub is for bug reports only, not general support. By using this plugin and following these recommendations, you can significantly improve your website’s defense against XSS attacks.

This plugin integrates with the WPVulnerability API to provide real-time vulnerability assessments for your WordPress core, plugins, themes, PHP version, Apache HTTPD, nginx, MariaDB, MySQL, ImageMagick, curl, memcached, Redis, and SQLite. It delivers detailed reports directly within your WordPress dashboard, helping you stay aware of potential security risks. Configure the plugin to send periodic notifications about your site’s security status, ensuring you remain informed without being overwhelmed. Designed for ease of use, it supports proactive security measures without storing or retrieving any personal data from your site. Data reliability The information provided by the information database comes from different sources that have been reviewed by third parties. There is no liability of any kind for the information. Act at your own risk. Using the plugin WP-CLI You can use the following WP-CLI commands to manage and check vulnerabilities: Core: wp wpvulnerability core Plugins: wp wpvulnerability plugins Themes: wp wpvulnerability themes PHP: wp wpvulnerability php Apache HTTPD: wp wpvulnerability apache nginx: wp wpvulnerability nginx MariaDB: wp wpvulnerability mariadb MySQL: wp wpvulnerability mysql ImageMagick: wp wpvulnerability imagemagick curl: wp wpvulnerability curl memcached: wp wpvulnerability memcached Redis: wp wpvulnerability redis SQLite: wp wpvulnerability sqlite To configure the plugin you can use: Hide component: wp wpvulnerability config hide [on|off] Notification email: wp wpvulnerability config email (comma separatted) Notification period: wp wpvulnerability config period Log retention: wp wpvulnerability config log-retention (in days) Cache duration: wp wpvulnerability config cache (in hours) All commands support the --format option to specify the output format: --format=table: Displays the results in a table format (default). --format=json: Displays the results in JSON format. Need help? wp wpvulnerability --help: Displays help information for WPVulnerability commands. wp wpvulnerability [command] --help: Displays help information for a WPVulnerability command. REST API The WPVulnerability plugin provides several REST API endpoints to fetch vulnerability information for different components of your WordPress site. Core: /wpvulnerability/v1/core Plugins: /wpvulnerability/v1/plugins Themes: /wpvulnerability/v1/themes PHP: /wpvulnerability/v1/php Apache HTTPD: /wpvulnerability/v1/apache nginx: /wpvulnerability/v1/nginx MariaDB: /wpvulnerability/v1/mariadb MySQL: /wpvulnerability/v1/mysql ImageMagick: /wpvulnerability/v1/imagemagick curl: /wpvulnerability/v1/curl memcached: /wpvulnerability/v1/memcached Redis: /wpvulnerability/v1/redis SQLite: /wpvulnerability/v1/sqlite The WPVulnerability REST API uses Application Passwords for authentication. You need to include a valid Application Password in the Authorization header of your requests. Example Request with Authentication curl -X GET https://example.com/wp-json/wpvulnerability/v1/plugins -u username:application_password Replace username with your WordPress username and application_password with your Application Password. Extra Configurations “From:” mail (since: 3.2.2) If, for some reason, you need the emails sent by the plugin to have a From different from the site administrator, you can change it from the wp-config.php by adding a constant: define( 'WPVULNERABILITY_MAIL', '[email protected]' ); If the constant is active, it will be visible in the configuration screen. Force hiding checks (since: 4.1.0) If you want to always hide a specific component, you can define a constant in wp-config.php. When set to true, the option will be checked automatically in the settings screen and the related analysis will be skipped. Example: define( 'WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_APACHE', true ); Available constants: WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_CORE, WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_PLUGINS, WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_THEMES, WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_PHP, WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_APACHE, WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_NGINX, WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_MARIADB, WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_MYSQL, WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_IMAGEMAGICK, WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_CURL, WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_MEMCACHED, WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_REDIS, WPVULNERABILITY_HIDE_SQLITE. Cache duration (since: 4.1.0) By default, data from the API is cached for 12 hours. To change this, define WPVULNERABILITY_CACHE_HOURS in wp-config.php with one of 1, 6, 12 or 24. This value overrides the setting screen and WP-CLI command. define( 'WPVULNERABILITY_CACHE_HOURS', 24 ); Log rotation (since: 4.2.0) WPVulnerability stores the most recent API responses so you can review recent calls from the new log tab. Define WPVULNERABILITY_LOG_RETENTION_DAYS in wp-config.php to control how many days of entries are preserved. Supported values are 0, 1, 7, 14 or 28; using 0 disables logging entirely. define( 'WPVULNERABILITY_LOG_RETENTION_DAYS', 14 ); When the constant is present its value is enforced in the settings UI and through WP-CLI, ensuring consistent log rotation across environments. Security configuration (since: 4.3.0) WPVulnerability uses a hybrid detection approach for server software (ImageMagick, Redis, Memcached, SQLite): PHP extensions first (most secure), then shell commands as fallback (most accurate). You can control this behavior using security configuration constants in wp-config.php. Global disable of shell commands: define( 'WPVULNERABILITY_DISABLE_SHELL_EXEC', true ); Completely disables shell command usage. Falls back to PHP extensions only. Use for maximum security when accuracy loss is acceptable. Security mode (standard/strict/disabled): define( 'WPVULNERABILITY_SECURITY_MODE', 'strict' ); standard – Hybrid detection: PHP extensions first, shell commands fallback (default, best accuracy) strict – PHP extensions only, no shell commands (high security, lower accuracy) disabled – No software detection at all (maximum security) Component whitelist: define( 'WPVULNERABILITY_SHELL_EXEC_WHITELIST', 'imagemagick,redis' ); Allows shell commands only for specified components. Available components: imagemagick, redis, memcached, sqlite. Use for granular control. Examples: Maximum security (no shell commands): define( 'WPVULNERABILITY_SECURITY_MODE', 'strict' ); Only allow ImageMagick shell detection: define( 'WPVULNERABILITY_SHELL_EXEC_WHITELIST', 'imagemagick' ); Complete disable: define( 'WPVULNERABILITY_DISABLE_SHELL_EXEC', true ); All shell commands are hardcoded and validated – no user input is involved. Commands are logged for security auditing. Compatibility WordPress: 5.6 – 7.1 PHP: 7.0 – 8.5 WP-CLI: 2.3.0 – 2.12.0 Security This plugin adheres to the following security measures and review protocols for each version: WordPress Plugin Handbook WordPress Plugin Security WordPress APIs Security WordPress Coding Standards Plugin Check (PCP) Privacy This plugin or the WordPress Vulnerability Database API does not collect any information about your site, your identity, the plugins, themes or content the site has. Vulnerabilities A security vulnerability was found and fixed in version 4.2.2.1. All previous versions (3.3.0 – 4.2.1) are affected. Please update to version 4.2.2.1 or later. Found a security vulnerability? Please report it to us privately at the WPVulnerability GitHub repository. Contributors You can contribute to this plugin at the WPVulnerability GitHub repository.