Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-23488

High

Published: 03 March 2025

Published
03 March 2025
Modified
23 April 2026
KEV Added
—
Patch
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CVSS Score v3.1 7.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0011 29.3th percentile
Risk Priority 14 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-23488 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 29.3th 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).

Deeper analysis

CVE-2025-23488 is an Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation vulnerability, enabling Reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) as classified under CWE-79. It affects the rng-refresh WordPress plugin developed by Abolfazl Sabagh, impacting all versions from n/a through 1.0 inclusive. The issue was published on 2025-03-03T14:15:37.930 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).

Attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low attack complexity and no required privileges, though it necessitates user interaction such as visiting a maliciously crafted webpage or clicking a link. Upon successful exploitation, adversaries can inject and execute arbitrary scripts in the victim's browser context within the scope of the affected site, potentially compromising low levels of confidentiality, integrity, and availability due to the changed scope.

The Patchstack advisory documents this Reflected XSS vulnerability specifically in the WordPress rng-refresh plugin version 1.0, providing further details at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/rng-refresh/vulnerability/wordpress-rng-refresh-plugin-1-0-reflected-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in Abolfazl Sabagh rng-refresh rng-refresh allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects rng-refresh: from n/a through <= 1.0.

CWE(s)
CWE-79

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.007 JavaScript Execution
Adversaries may abuse various implementations of JavaScript for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Reflected XSS in public-facing WordPress plugin directly enables exploitation of the web application (T1190) to deliver and execute arbitrary JavaScript in the victim's browser (T1059.007).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v18.1

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-3231Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-23481Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-69302Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-23734Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-23571Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-65110Shared CWE-79
CVE-2026-24948Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-27352Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-30349Shared CWE-79
CVE-2026-3876Shared CWE-79

Affected Assets

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Directly remediates the reflected XSS flaw in the rng-refresh WordPress plugin by identifying, reporting, and correcting the improper input neutralization.

SI-15 Information Output Filtering good match
prevent

Filters information outputs to web browsers, preventing execution of injected scripts from unsanitized reflected inputs in web page generation.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

Validates user inputs to neutralize malicious scripts before they are processed and reflected in web pages by the rng-refresh plugin.

References