---
id: "CVE-2012-20004"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2012-20004"]
title: "K-news WordPress plugin: reflected XSS steals session cookies via 'ff' parameter"
severity: "medium"
cvss: 6.1
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "package"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["package", "self-hosted", "wordpress"]
not_affected_if: ["plugin-not-installed", "plugin-updated-1.1.1"]
published_at: "2026-10-20T21:17:11+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:21+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T04:04:05+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-20004", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:21+00:00"}]
---

# K-news WordPress plugin: reflected XSS steals session cookies via 'ff' parameter

The K-news WordPress plugin before 1.1.1 echoes an unsanitized 'ff' parameter into a page, enabling reflected cross-site scripting. An attacker who gets a victim to open a crafted link can run script in the victim's browser and steal session cookies.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## How to check

- Check the installed K-news plugin version in the WordPress admin under Plugins, or `wp plugin get knews --field=version`
- Look for the file `wp-content/plugins/knews/wysiwyg/fontpicker/index.php` on the server

## Fix

- Update the K-news plugin to `1.1.1` or later
- If the plugin cannot be updated, remove it or block requests to `/wp-content/plugins/knews/wysiwyg/fontpicker/index.php`

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:21+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-20004

## From the sources

K-news plugin for WordPress before 1.1.1 contains a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to inject script by supplying unsanitized input through the 'ff' parameter. Attackers can craft GET requests to /wp-content/plugins/knews/wysiwyg/fontpicker/index.php with malicious 'ff' values echoed into option tags to execute script and steal session cookies. Exploitation evidence was first observed by the Shadowserver Foundation on 2023-10-19.

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