CVE-2025-24548 identifies a reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Autoglot – Automatic WordPress Translation plugin, versions up to and including 2.4.7. The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of input during web page generation, which allows an attacker to inject malicious JavaScript code into web pages viewed by other users. Specifically, the plugin fails to adequately sanitize or encode user-supplied input before incorporating it into dynamically generated pages, leading to reflected XSS. This type of vulnerability typically requires an attacker to craft a malicious URL containing the payload and convince a victim to visit it, resulting in script execution within the victim’s browser context. The impact of such exploitation includes theft of session cookies, user impersonation, defacement, or redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability affects WordPress sites using the Autoglot plugin for automatic translation, which is popular among multilingual websites. No CVSS score has been assigned yet, and no public exploits are known at this time. The vulnerability was reserved in January 2025 and published in April 2025 by Patchstack. The lack of authentication requirement and the broad deployment of WordPress sites increase the risk profile. However, the absence of known exploits suggests limited current active threat but warrants proactive mitigation.

The reflected XSS vulnerability in Autoglot can lead to significant security risks for organizations operating WordPress sites with this plugin. Attackers can exploit this flaw to execute arbitrary scripts in the browsers of site visitors, potentially stealing session tokens, credentials, or other sensitive information. This compromises confidentiality and integrity of user data and can lead to unauthorized actions performed on behalf of users. Additionally, attackers may deface websites or redirect users to phishing or malware distribution sites, damaging organizational reputation and user trust. The vulnerability does not directly impact server availability but can indirectly cause denial of service through reputational damage or user lockout. Given the widespread use of WordPress globally and the popularity of translation plugins for internationalized content, many organizations, especially those targeting multilingual audiences, are at risk. The ease of exploitation without authentication and no user interaction beyond visiting a malicious link increases the threat surface. Although no known exploits are currently active, the vulnerability represents a critical vector for social engineering and targeted attacks.

Organizations should immediately monitor for updates or patches released by the Autoglot plugin developers and apply them as soon as they become available. Until a patch is released, site administrators should implement strict input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied data incorporated into web pages, especially parameters processed by the Autoglot plugin. Employing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules to detect and block reflected XSS payloads can provide interim protection. Site owners should educate users and administrators about the risks of clicking suspicious links and consider disabling or replacing the Autoglot plugin if feasible. Regular security audits and scanning for XSS vulnerabilities should be conducted. Additionally, Content Security Policy (CSP) headers can be configured to restrict script execution sources, mitigating the impact of injected scripts. Logging and monitoring for unusual activity related to user sessions and input parameters can help detect exploitation attempts early.