CVE-2025-62040 is a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability identified in the YOP Poll plugin, a popular WordPress polling tool, affecting all versions up to and including 6.5.37. The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of user-supplied input during the generation of web pages, which allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code into pages rendered by the plugin. This type of vulnerability is classified as a reflected or stored XSS depending on the injection vector, enabling attackers to execute arbitrary scripts in the context of the victim’s browser. The CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 reflects a high severity, with an attack vector of network (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), but requiring user interaction (UI:R). The scope is changed (S:C), indicating that exploitation can affect components beyond the vulnerable component itself. The impact metrics indicate low confidentiality (C:L), integrity (I:L), and availability (A:L) impacts, meaning attackers can steal limited sensitive information, manipulate some data, or cause minor disruptions. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability poses a significant risk due to the ease of exploitation and the widespread deployment of YOP Poll in WordPress environments. The vulnerability can be leveraged for session hijacking, phishing, defacement, or delivering malware payloads. The lack of official patches at the time of publication necessitates immediate attention to mitigation strategies. The vulnerability was reserved on October 7, 2025, and published on November 6, 2025, by Patchstack, indicating active tracking by security researchers.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-62040 can be substantial, especially for those relying on WordPress sites with the YOP Poll plugin for customer engagement, surveys, or feedback collection. Successful exploitation can lead to session hijacking, allowing attackers to impersonate users, including administrators, potentially leading to further compromise of the website or backend systems. Data integrity may be affected if attackers manipulate poll results or inject misleading content, damaging organizational reputation and trust. Confidentiality breaches could occur if sensitive user data is exposed through malicious scripts. Availability impacts, while low, could manifest as temporary denial of service or defacement, disrupting business operations. Given the interconnected nature of European digital services and stringent data protection regulations like GDPR, such breaches could also result in regulatory penalties and loss of customer confidence. The risk is heightened in sectors with high online engagement such as e-commerce, media, and public services. Organizations lacking timely patching or robust web application security controls are particularly vulnerable.

1. Monitor for official patches or updates from YOP Poll and apply them immediately once released to remediate the vulnerability. 2. Implement strict input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied data within the polling plugin to prevent injection of malicious scripts. 3. Deploy Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts and reduce the impact of potential XSS attacks. 4. Use Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) configured to detect and block common XSS attack patterns targeting YOP Poll endpoints. 5. Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing focusing on web application components, including third-party plugins like YOP Poll. 6. Educate users and administrators about the risks of clicking on untrusted links and the importance of reporting suspicious activity. 7. Consider isolating polling functionality on separate subdomains or containers to limit the scope of potential compromise. 8. Maintain comprehensive logging and monitoring to detect anomalous activities that may indicate exploitation attempts. 9. Review and minimize plugin usage to only essential components, reducing the attack surface. 10. In the absence of patches, consider temporarily disabling the YOP Poll plugin or replacing it with more secure alternatives.