CVE-2025-23425
Published: 03 March 2025
Summary
CVE-2025-23425 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 45.9th 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
SI-15 mandates filtering of information outputs, directly preventing reflected XSS by neutralizing untrusted input before rendering in web pages.
SI-10 enforces validation of information inputs, blocking malicious payloads that could lead to XSS injection in the WordPress plugin.
SI-2 requires identification, reporting, and correction of system flaws, enabling timely patching of the specific XSS vulnerability in Marekkis Watermark versions <=0.9.4.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Reflected XSS in public-facing WordPress plugin enables exploitation via crafted malicious links that trigger arbitrary script execution in victim's browser.
NVD Description
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in marekki Marekkis Watermark marekkis-watermark allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects Marekkis Watermark: from n/a through <= 0.9.4.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2025-23425 is an Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation vulnerability, classified as Reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) under CWE-79, in the marekkis-watermark WordPress plugin developed by marekki under the name Marekkis Watermark. The issue affects all versions of the plugin from n/a through 0.9.4 inclusive.
With 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), the vulnerability can be exploited remotely by unauthenticated attackers with low complexity, though it requires user interaction such as clicking a malicious link. Exploitation enables limited impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability within a changed scope, potentially allowing attackers to inject and execute arbitrary scripts in the context of a victim's browser session.
The primary advisory is available from Patchstack at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/marekkis-watermark/vulnerability/wordpress-marekkis-watermark-plugin-0-9-4-reflected-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve, which documents the vulnerability in the WordPress plugin context for mitigation details.
Details
- CWE(s)