CVE-2025-13656 identifies a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Cute News Ticker plugin for WordPress, maintained by the vendor arnabkumar. The flaw exists in all versions up to and including 1.0, where the 'color' attribute in the shortcode is not properly sanitized or escaped before being rendered on web pages. This improper neutralization of input (CWE-79) allows an authenticated attacker with at least Contributor-level access to inject arbitrary JavaScript code into pages that utilize this shortcode. Since the malicious script is stored persistently, it executes every time the page is accessed by any user, including administrators and visitors. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.4, reflecting a medium severity with a network attack vector, low attack complexity, privileges required at the Contributor level, no user interaction needed, and a scope change due to potential impact beyond the vulnerable component. The impact includes potential theft of session cookies, defacement, or redirection to malicious sites. No patches or official fixes have been released as of the publication date, and no public exploits have been observed. The vulnerability is particularly concerning for WordPress sites that enable multiple contributors to add or edit content, as it leverages legitimate user privileges to execute attacks.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a moderate risk primarily to websites running WordPress with the Cute News Ticker plugin installed. The ability for contributors to inject persistent scripts can lead to compromise of user sessions, unauthorized actions performed in the context of logged-in users, and potential data leakage. This can damage organizational reputation, lead to regulatory non-compliance (e.g., GDPR if personal data is exposed), and disrupt business operations. Organizations with collaborative content management workflows or public-facing sites with multiple contributors are especially vulnerable. The medium CVSS score reflects that while exploitation requires some privilege, no user interaction is needed, and the attack can be performed remotely. The lack of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate it, as attackers may develop exploits once the vulnerability is public. The impact on availability is minimal, but confidentiality and integrity of user data and site content are at risk.

1. Immediately audit and restrict Contributor-level and higher user privileges to trusted personnel only, minimizing the risk of malicious shortcode injection. 2. Disable or remove the Cute News Ticker plugin if it is not essential to reduce the attack surface. 3. Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious shortcode attributes or script injections targeting the 'color' attribute. 4. Apply custom input validation and output escaping filters in WordPress to sanitize the 'color' shortcode attribute until an official patch is released. 5. Monitor website content and logs for unusual shortcode usage or unexpected script injections. 6. Educate content contributors about secure content practices and the risks of injecting untrusted code. 7. Stay alert for official patches or updates from the plugin vendor and apply them promptly once available. 8. Conduct regular security scans and penetration tests focusing on XSS vulnerabilities in WordPress plugins.