# CVE-2022-1221: Gwyn's Imagemap Selector - XSS

> Live exploitation tracking for CVE-2022-1221 by the CrowdSec Live Exploit Tracker, built from real-world attack data crowdsourced from CrowdSec's global network.

Page: https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2022-1221

## Key facts

- **Exploitation phase:** Limited Exploitation. The vulnerability is known but shows very limited attacker interest or exploitation activity.
- **CVSS score:** 6.1
- **Public exploit available:** Yes
- **Affected products:** N/A Gwyn's Imagemap Selector
- **Weaknesses:** CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting'))
- **Tags:** cms, wordpress

## Description

The Gwyn's Imagemap Selector WordPress plugin through 0.3.3 does not sanitise and escape some parameters before outputting them back in attributes, leading to a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting.

## CrowdSec analysis

[CVE-2022-1221](https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/CVE-2022-1221) is a vulnerability in Gwyn's Imagemap Selector WordPress plugin that can lead to reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) due to improper sanitization of input parameters.

CrowdSec has been tracking this vulnerability and its exploits since 7th of April 2025.

CrowdSec network observations suggest that most exploitation of CVE-2022-1221 involves focused reconnaissance to identify viable targets. Attackers typically tailor their campaigns based on system exposure and configuration. It is unlikely that a given attack is accidental.
Telemetry from the CrowdSec network also shows that exploitation activity for CVE-2022-1221 remains steady week-over-week. Attack volumes are consistent with long-term trends, indicating sustained interest from threat actors. CVE-2022-1221 continues to be an active part of the threat landscape and will likely remain this way for the forseeable future.

Attempts to exploit this vulnerability frequently target URLs containing `/wp-content/plugins/gwyns-imagemap-selector/popup.php`.

## Timeline

- 2022-05-23: CVE Published. CVE-2022-1221 is published to NVD.
- 2025-04-07: Rule Released. CrowdSec releases a rule to detect CVE-2022-1221 exploitation attempts against the CrowdSec Network.
- 2025-04-07: CrowdSec First Seen. CrowdSec observes in-the-wild exploitation of CVE-2022-1221 for the first time.

## References

- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2022/CVE-2022-1221.yaml

## Live exploitation data

The [Live Exploit Tracker page](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2022-1221) follows observed exploitation activity for CVE-2022-1221. [Request an API key](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/request-api-key) for full access to its exploitation timeline, attacking IP addresses and blocklists.