CVE-2025-23843
Published: 03 March 2025
Summary
CVE-2025-23843 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 in the top 42.8% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; 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 directly prevents reflected XSS by requiring filtering and sanitization of user inputs before output in web pages generated by the WP-HR Manager plugin.
SI-10 enforces validation of untrusted inputs to the plugin, blocking malicious scripts that could be reflected back to victims' browsers.
SI-2 ensures timely patching or removal of the vulnerable WP-HR Manager plugin versions through <= 3.1.0 to remediate the improper neutralization flaw.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
The reflected XSS vulnerability in the public-facing WP-HR Manager WordPress plugin directly enables exploitation of public-facing applications (T1190) and facilitates browser session hijacking via arbitrary script execution for session data theft or actions on behalf of the user (T1185).
NVD Description
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in wphrmanager WP-HR Manager: The Human Resources Plugin for WordPress wp-hr-manager allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects WP-HR Manager: The Human Resources Plugin for WordPress: from n/a through <= 3.1.0.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2025-23843 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 WP-HR Manager: The Human Resources Plugin for WordPress (wp-hr-manager), impacting all versions from n/a through 3.1.0 inclusive. The issue was published on 2025-03-03.
The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (High) with the vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L. Remote attackers with no required privileges can exploit it over the network with low attack complexity by tricking authenticated users into performing an action, such as interacting with a malicious link or input reflected in a web page. Successful exploitation allows arbitrary script execution in the victim's browser context, with changed scope potentially enabling low impacts on confidentiality (e.g., session data theft), integrity, and availability.
The Patchstack advisory documents this Reflected XSS issue in WP-HR Manager plugin version 3.1.0 and provides additional vulnerability details at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/wp-hr-manager/vulnerability/wordpress-wp-hr-manager-plugin-3-1-0-reflected-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve. Security practitioners should consult this reference for recommended mitigations, such as plugin updates if available.
Details
- CWE(s)