Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-23563

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 0.0023 46.2th percentile
Risk Priority 14 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-23563 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 46.2th 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).

Deeper analysis

CVE-2025-23563 is an Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation vulnerability, classified as Reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) under CWE-79, affecting the Explore pages component in the mbyte Explore Pages WordPress plugin. This flaw impacts versions from an unspecified initial release through 1.01, as published on 2025-03-03.

Unauthenticated attackers (PR:N) can exploit this over the network (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L), though it requires user interaction such as clicking a malicious link (UI:R). Exploitation changes the scope (S:C) and enables limited impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:L/I:L/A:L), resulting in a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1.

The Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/explore-pages/vulnerability/wordpress-explore-pages-plugin-1-01-reflected-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve details the vulnerability in the WordPress Explore Pages plugin version 1.01 and provides associated mitigation guidance.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in mbyte Explore pages explore-pages allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects Explore pages: from n/a through <= 1.01.

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 →
T1204.001 Malicious Link Execution
An adversary may rely upon a user clicking a malicious link in order to gain execution.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Reflected XSS in public-facing WordPress plugin directly enables exploitation of the web app over the network via a crafted malicious link requiring user interaction to trigger arbitrary script execution in the browser.

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-22765Shared CWE-79
CVE-2024-13885Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-23645Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-24017Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-24544Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-68037Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-23725Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-22357Shared CWE-79
CVE-2026-24955Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-23834Shared CWE-79

Affected Assets

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
preventrecover

Requires identification, reporting, and correction of the specific reflected XSS flaw in the mbyte Explore Pages WordPress plugin through timely patching or workarounds.

SI-15 Information Output Filtering good match
prevent

Mandates filtering of information output during web page generation to neutralize malicious scripts reflected from untrusted user input, directly preventing XSS exploitation.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

Enforces validation of inputs at entry points to reject or sanitize malicious payloads targeting the Explore pages, blocking reflected XSS attacks before processing.

References