Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-23549

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-2025-23549 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-2025-23549 is an Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation vulnerability, classified as Reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) under CWE-79, in the Maniac SEO WordPress plugin by agora32. The issue affects all versions of the Maniac SEO plugin from n/a through 2.0 inclusive. Published on 2025-03-03, it 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).

Remote attackers require no privileges and can exploit this over the network with low attack complexity, though user interaction is needed, such as visiting a maliciously crafted URL. Exploitation results in execution of arbitrary scripts in the victim's browser due to the changed scope (S:C), enabling limited impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, such as potential session hijacking or data theft within the browser context.

The Patchstack advisory documents this Reflected XSS vulnerability specifically in WordPress Maniac SEO plugin version 2.0 and serves as a primary reference for details on the issue.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in agora32 Maniac SEO maniac-seo allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects Maniac SEO: from n/a through <= 2.0.

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 →
T1185 Browser Session Hijacking Collection
Adversaries may take advantage of security vulnerabilities and inherent functionality in browser software to change content, modify user-behaviors, and intercept information as part of various browser session hijacking techniques.
attack.mitre.org →
T1539 Steal Web Session Cookie Credential Access
An adversary may steal web application or service session cookies and use them to gain access to web applications or Internet services as an authenticated user without needing credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Reflected XSS in public-facing WordPress plugin directly enables arbitrary JavaScript execution in browser (T1059.007), facilitating session hijacking (T1185) and web session cookie theft (T1539) via malicious URL; maps to initial access via public app exploitation (T1190).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-67949Shared CWE-79
CVE-2024-56033Shared CWE-79
CVE-2026-27072Shared CWE-79
CVE-2026-27068Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-59542Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-26989Shared CWE-79
CVE-2026-28103Shared CWE-79
CVE-2026-26266Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-23838Shared CWE-79
CVE-2026-27352Shared CWE-79

Affected Assets

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-15 Information Output Filtering good match
prevent

Directly addresses improper neutralization of input during web page generation by filtering outputs to prevent injection of malicious scripts in reflected XSS attacks.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

Validates untrusted inputs like malicious URL parameters before reflection in web pages, blocking XSS payloads from being processed.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Remediates the specific XSS flaw in the Maniac SEO WordPress plugin through timely patching, eliminating the vulnerability root cause.

References