CVE-2025-22317
Published: 15 January 2025
Summary
CVE-2025-22317 is a high-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 29.2th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-15 (Information Output Filtering).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Requires filtering and neutralization of information outputs to prevent reflected XSS by ensuring malicious inputs are not executed in the victim's browser during web page generation.
Mandates validation of user inputs to block malicious JavaScript payloads before they are reflected unsanitized into dynamically generated web pages.
Ensures timely identification, reporting, and correction of the specific flaw in the gallery-images-ape WordPress plugin up to version 2.2.8.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
The reflected XSS vulnerability in a public-facing WordPress plugin directly enables exploitation of public-facing applications (T1190) to inject and execute arbitrary JavaScript (T1059.007) in the victim's browser, typically delivered via spearphishing links (T1566.002) requiring user interaction.
NVD Description
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in Gallery Ape Photo Gallery – Image Gallery by Ape gallery-images-ape allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects Photo Gallery – Image Gallery by Ape: from n/a through <= 2.2.8.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2025-22317 is an improper neutralization of input during web page generation vulnerability, enabling reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) as defined by CWE-79. It affects the WordPress plugin "Photo Gallery – Image Gallery by Ape," identified by the slug gallery-images-ape, in all versions up to and including 2.2.8. The vulnerability was published on 2025-01-15 and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L), indicating high severity due to network accessibility, low attack complexity, and changed scope.
Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely by crafting malicious inputs that are reflected unsanitized into dynamically generated web pages. Exploitation requires tricking a user into interacting, such as clicking a malicious link, which injects and executes arbitrary JavaScript in the victim's browser context. This can result in low-level impacts on confidentiality (e.g., session token theft), integrity (e.g., page manipulation), and availability, amplified by the changed scope to affect the plugin's security context.
The Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/gallery-images-ape/vulnerability/wordpress-gallery-images-ape-plugin-2-2-8-reflected-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve provides details on the reflected XSS issue in version 2.2.8 of the gallery-images-ape plugin.
Details
- CWE(s)