CVE-2025-32311 is a high-severity reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability identified in the QuanticaLabs Pressroom - News Magazine WordPress Theme, affecting versions up to 6.9. The vulnerability arises due to improper neutralization of user-supplied input during web page generation, classified under CWE-79. Specifically, the theme fails to adequately sanitize or encode input parameters that are reflected back in the web page output, allowing an attacker to inject malicious scripts. When a victim user visits a crafted URL containing the malicious payload, the injected script executes in their browser context. This can lead to a range of impacts including session hijacking, defacement, redirection to malicious sites, or theft of sensitive information. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.1, indicating a high severity level. The vector string (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L) shows that the attack can be launched remotely over the network without privileges, requires only user interaction (clicking a malicious link), and affects confidentiality, integrity, and availability to a limited extent. The scope is changed (S:C), meaning the vulnerability affects components beyond the initially vulnerable component, likely impacting the user’s browser environment. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet. The vulnerability is particularly concerning for websites using this WordPress theme, which is popular among news and magazine publishers for content presentation. Since WordPress themes are often widely deployed and sometimes not promptly updated, this vulnerability could be leveraged in phishing campaigns or targeted attacks to compromise site visitors or administrators.

For European organizations, especially media outlets, publishers, and news agencies using the Pressroom theme, this vulnerability poses a significant risk. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized script execution in visitors’ browsers, enabling theft of authentication cookies, redirection to malware sites, or defacement, damaging brand reputation and user trust. Confidentiality of user data may be compromised, and integrity of displayed content can be altered. Availability impact is generally limited but could occur if attackers use the vulnerability to inject disruptive scripts. Given the widespread use of WordPress in Europe and the popularity of news magazine themes, a successful attack could affect a large user base. Regulatory frameworks such as GDPR impose strict requirements on protecting user data, and breaches resulting from such vulnerabilities could lead to legal and financial penalties. Additionally, attackers might exploit this vulnerability as part of multi-stage attacks targeting European organizations’ web infrastructure or to distribute malware campaigns.

Organizations should immediately audit their WordPress installations to identify if the Pressroom - News Magazine theme version 6.9 or earlier is in use. Until an official patch is released, administrators should consider temporarily disabling the theme or replacing it with a secure alternative. Implementing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules to detect and block reflected XSS payloads can reduce risk. Site owners should enforce Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict script execution sources, mitigating impact of injected scripts. Regularly updating WordPress core, themes, and plugins remains critical. User education to avoid clicking suspicious links can reduce exploitation likelihood. Monitoring web logs for unusual query parameters or access patterns may help detect attempted exploitation. Once a patch is available from QuanticaLabs, prompt application is essential. Additionally, security teams should conduct penetration testing focusing on input validation and output encoding to identify similar vulnerabilities.