CVE-2025-57999 is a medium severity vulnerability classified under CWE-79, indicating an Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation, commonly known as Cross-site Scripting (XSS). This specific vulnerability affects the WPKoi Templates for Elementor plugin, a WordPress theme template provider widely used to design and customize websites. The vulnerability allows for DOM-based XSS attacks, where malicious scripts can be injected and executed in the context of a victim's browser. This occurs because the plugin fails to properly sanitize or neutralize user-supplied input before dynamically generating web page content. The affected versions include all releases up to and including version 3.4.1. The CVSS score of 6.5 (medium severity) reflects that the attack vector is network-based (AV:N), requires low attack complexity (AC:L), but does require privileges (PR:L) and user interaction (UI:R). The scope is changed (S:C), meaning the vulnerability can affect resources beyond the initially vulnerable component. The impact affects confidentiality, integrity, and availability at a low level, but the vulnerability can be leveraged to execute arbitrary scripts in users’ browsers, potentially leading to session hijacking, defacement, or redirection to malicious sites. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no official patches have been linked yet. The vulnerability was reserved in August 2025 and published in September 2025, indicating recent discovery and disclosure. Given that Elementor and WPKoi Templates are popular in WordPress ecosystems, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to websites using these components without updated mitigation.

For European organizations, this vulnerability presents a tangible risk especially for businesses and institutions relying on WordPress sites with the WPKoi Templates for Elementor plugin. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized script execution in users’ browsers, enabling theft of sensitive information such as authentication tokens, personal data, or financial information. This can undermine user trust, lead to regulatory non-compliance under GDPR due to data breaches, and cause reputational damage. Additionally, attackers could manipulate website content, leading to misinformation or phishing attacks targeting European users. The medium severity and requirement for user interaction mean that social engineering or phishing campaigns could be used to trigger the exploit. Organizations in sectors such as e-commerce, finance, healthcare, and government are particularly vulnerable due to the sensitive nature of their data and the high value of their web presence. The cross-site scripting vulnerability also increases the attack surface for further exploitation, such as pivoting to internal networks or deploying malware.

1. Immediate action should be to monitor for official patches or updates from wpkoithemes and apply them promptly once available. 2. Implement Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with rules specifically targeting DOM-based XSS patterns to provide a temporary protective layer. 3. Conduct thorough input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied data within the website’s custom code to reduce injection risks. 4. Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts and mitigate the impact of XSS attacks. 5. Educate website administrators and developers on secure coding practices and the risks of DOM-based XSS. 6. Regularly scan web applications using specialized tools that can detect DOM-based XSS vulnerabilities. 7. Limit user privileges on the WordPress backend to reduce the risk of privilege escalation that could facilitate exploitation. 8. Monitor website traffic and logs for unusual activity that may indicate exploitation attempts. 9. Consider temporary disabling or replacing the vulnerable plugin if immediate patching is not feasible, especially for high-risk environments.