CVE-2025-53324 is a stored Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability identified in the CodeYatri Gutenify WordPress theme, affecting all versions up to and including 1.5.7. The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of input during the generation of web pages, which allows an attacker to inject malicious scripts that are stored and later executed in the context of users visiting the affected site. This stored XSS can be exploited by an attacker with low privileges (PR:L) who can submit crafted input that is not properly sanitized or encoded before being rendered. The attack requires user interaction (UI:R), such as a victim visiting a maliciously crafted page or content. The vulnerability impacts confidentiality and integrity by potentially allowing theft of cookies, session tokens, or manipulation of displayed content, but does not affect availability. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.4 (medium severity), with an attack vector of network (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), partial scope (S:C), and no known exploits currently in the wild. The vulnerability was reserved in June 2025 and published in November 2025. No official patches or mitigation links are currently provided, but standard XSS mitigation techniques apply.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a moderate risk primarily to websites using the Gutenify WordPress theme, which may be leveraged for corporate blogs, marketing sites, or customer portals. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized disclosure of user session information, enabling account takeover or impersonation. This can damage organizational reputation, lead to data breaches involving personal or sensitive information, and facilitate further attacks such as phishing or malware distribution. Since Gutenify is a theme, the impact is limited to web presence rather than core infrastructure, but the widespread use of WordPress in Europe means many organizations could be exposed. The requirement for low privileges and user interaction lowers the barrier for exploitation, especially in environments with multiple contributors or user-generated content. The lack of known exploits in the wild suggests limited immediate threat, but the medium severity score indicates that timely mitigation is important to prevent future attacks.

1. Monitor CodeYatri and WordPress security advisories for official patches addressing CVE-2025-53324 and apply them promptly once available. 2. Implement strict input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied content, especially in areas where Gutenify renders dynamic content. 3. Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts and reduce the impact of XSS attacks. 4. Limit privileges of users who can submit content to the site, enforcing the principle of least privilege to reduce attack surface. 5. Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing focusing on XSS vulnerabilities in the web environment. 6. Educate content editors and users about the risks of clicking untrusted links or interacting with suspicious content. 7. Consider deploying Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with rules tuned to detect and block XSS payloads targeting WordPress themes. 8. Review and harden WordPress configurations, including disabling unnecessary plugins or themes that may increase risk.