CVE-2025-23998

High

Published: 21 January 2025

Published

21 January 2025

Modified

23 April 2026

KEV Added

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Patch

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CVSS Score 7.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L

EPSS Score 0.0014 32.9th percentile

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

Summary

CVE-2025-23998 is a high-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Rarathemes The Ultralight. 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 32.9th 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).

Threat & Defense at a Glance

What attackers do: exploitation maps to Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) and 2 other techniques. What defenders deploy: see the NIST 800-53 controls recommended below.

Threat & Defense Details

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI

SI-15 Information Output Filtering good match

prevent

Directly addresses the improper neutralization of input during web page generation by filtering outputs to encode or block reflected XSS payloads.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

prevent

Validates user-supplied inputs to detect and reject malicious scripts before they can be reflected in generated web pages.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match

prevent

Remediates the specific reflected XSS flaw in UltraLight theme versions <=1.2 by applying patches or updates promptly.

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 →

Why these techniques?

Reflected XSS in public-facing WordPress theme directly enables T1190 (exploiting public-facing app via crafted URL), T1059.007 (arbitrary JavaScript execution in browser), and T1185 (session hijacking/data theft as described).

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

NVD Description

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in raratheme UltraLight the-ultralight allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects UltraLight: from n/a through <= 1.2.

Deeper analysisAI

CVE-2025-23998 is an Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation vulnerability, classified as Reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS, CWE-79), in the UltraLight WordPress theme developed by Rara Theme. The flaw affects UltraLight versions from an unspecified initial release through 1.2, where user input is not properly sanitized during web page generation, enabling malicious script injection.

Attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L), requiring no privileges (PR:N) but user interaction such as clicking a malicious link (UI:R). Successful exploitation changes the security scope (S:C) and results in low impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:L/I:L/A:L), yielding a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1. This allows reflected XSS payloads to execute in the victim's browser context, potentially leading to session hijacking, data theft, or further client-side compromise.

Patchstack has documented this issue in their vulnerability database for the UltraLight WordPress theme version 1.2, providing details on the Reflected XSS flaw at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/the-ultralight/vulnerability/wordpress-ultralight-theme-1-2-reflected-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve. Security practitioners should update to a patched version of the theme if available and apply general XSS mitigations like Content Security Policy.