CVE-2025-23541

High

Published: 23 January 2025

Published

23 January 2025

Modified

23 April 2026

KEV Added

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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 0.0018 39.1th percentile

Risk Priority 14 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-23541 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 39.1th 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-2025-23541 is an Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation vulnerability, classified as Reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) under CWE-79, in the WordPress plugin "Download, Downloads" (ydn-download) by edmon.parker. This issue affects all versions of the plugin from n/a through 1.4.2 inclusive.

The vulnerability 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 network accessibility, low attack complexity, no required privileges, and user interaction needed, with changed scope and low impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Remote attackers can exploit it by tricking authenticated or unauthenticated users into interacting with maliciously crafted input reflected in web pages, such as via specially crafted links or requests.

The Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/ydn-download/vulnerability/wordpress-download-downloads-plugin-1-4-2-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve documents this XSS vulnerability in the WordPress Download & Downloads plugin version 1.4.2 and provides relevant mitigation details for affected deployments.

EU & UK References

🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-3239

Vulnerability details

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in edmon.parker Download, Downloads ydn-download allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects Download, Downloads : from n/a through <= 1.4.2.

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 →

Why these techniques?

Reflected XSS in public-facing WordPress plugin directly enables T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application via crafted links/requests requiring user interaction.

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