Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-69296

High

Published: 20 February 2026

Published
20 February 2026
Modified
15 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 0.0004 14.4th percentile
Risk Priority 14 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-69296 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 14.4th 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-2025-69296 is an Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation vulnerability, classified as Reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) under CWE-79, in the GhostPool Aardvark WordPress theme. This issue affects Aardvark versions from n/a through 4.6.3 and was published on 2026-02-20T16:22:16.247. 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).

Attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low attack complexity and no required privileges, though it demands user interaction such as clicking a malicious link. Exploitation enables reflected XSS, allowing attackers to inject and execute arbitrary scripts in the context of a victim's browser on the affected site, potentially leading to limited impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability within a changed security scope.

Mitigation details are available in the Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/aardvark/vulnerability/wordpress-aardvark-theme-4-6-3-reflected-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve, which covers the Reflected XSS vulnerability in the WordPress Aardvark theme version 4.6.3.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in GhostPool Aardvark aardvark allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects Aardvark: from n/a through <= 4.6.3.

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 →
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 theme directly enables remote exploitation of web app (T1190) with JS payload execution (T1059.007) via malicious link (T1204.001).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v18.1

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-47140Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-68891Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-69054Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-22714Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-23473Shared CWE-79
CVE-2024-13668Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-25118Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-67918Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-53222Shared CWE-79
CVE-2025-28890Shared CWE-79

Affected Assets

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

Directly requires validation and neutralization of untrusted input before it is used in web page generation, blocking the reflected XSS payload at its source.

SI-15 Information Output Filtering good match
prevent

Requires filtering or encoding of information sent to users, preventing injected scripts from executing in the victim's browser context.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation partial match
prevent

Mandates timely remediation of known flaws such as the improper neutralization present in Aardvark <= 4.6.3, eliminating the vulnerability through patching.

References