CVE-2025-23920
Published: 03 February 2025
Summary
CVE-2025-23920 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 12.7th 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-2025-23920 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 ApplicantPro WordPress plugin developed by Sourcing Team, with the issue present in versions from n/a through 1.3.9.
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 exploitation is possible over the network with low complexity and no privileges required, though it demands user interaction such as clicking a malicious link. Remote attackers can deliver payloads via reflected inputs, executing arbitrary scripts in the victim's browser within a changed scope, potentially compromising low levels of confidentiality (e.g., session data theft), integrity (e.g., page manipulation), and availability.
Patchstack's advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/applicantpro/vulnerability/wordpress-applicantpro-plugin-1-3-9-reflected-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve documents this reflected XSS in the ApplicantPro WordPress plugin up to version 1.3.9, providing details for practitioners to assess and address the risk through updates or other recommended mitigations.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-3535
Vulnerability details
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in Sourcing Team ApplicantPro applicantpro allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects ApplicantPro: from n/a through <= 1.3.9.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Reflected XSS in public-facing WordPress plugin directly enables T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application) via network-delivered payloads and facilitates T1566.002 (Spearphishing Link) as the primary attack vector requiring user interaction with malicious URLs.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
SI-15 mandates filtering of information outputs, directly preventing reflected XSS by encoding or sanitizing user-supplied input before inclusion in web pages.
SI-10 requires validation of information inputs, blocking malicious XSS payloads from being accepted and reflected by the ApplicantPro plugin.
SI-2 ensures identification, reporting, and correction of flaws like CVE-2025-23920 through timely patching of the vulnerable ApplicantPro plugin versions up to 1.3.9.