CVE-2025-62040 is a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability identified in the YOP Poll plugin, a popular WordPress polling tool, affecting 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 viewed by other users. This type of vulnerability is classified as an improper input validation flaw that leads to reflected or stored XSS attacks. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.1 indicates a high severity level, 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), meaning the vulnerability can affect components beyond the initially vulnerable component. The impact metrics indicate low confidentiality (C:L), integrity (I:L), and availability (A:L) impacts, consistent with typical XSS consequences such as session hijacking, defacement, or phishing. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability presents a significant risk due to the widespread use of YOP Poll in WordPress environments. Attackers can craft malicious URLs or poll content that, when rendered by a victim’s browser, execute arbitrary scripts. This can lead to theft of cookies, credentials, or execution of unauthorized actions on behalf of the user. The vulnerability is particularly concerning for public-facing websites that rely on YOP Poll for user engagement and data collection. The lack of available patches at the time of disclosure necessitates immediate mitigation through input sanitization, output encoding, and deployment of Content Security Policies to reduce attack surface.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-62040 can be significant, especially for those operating public-facing websites that use YOP Poll for surveys, feedback, or engagement. Exploitation can lead to unauthorized access to user sessions, data leakage, and potential defacement or redirection attacks, undermining user trust and organizational reputation. The compromise of user credentials or session tokens can facilitate further attacks within the organization’s network. Additionally, regulatory compliance risks arise under GDPR due to potential exposure of personal data. The availability impact, while low, can still disrupt user interactions and poll data integrity. Organizations in sectors such as e-commerce, government, education, and media, which often use polling tools for user feedback, are particularly vulnerable. The cross-site scripting nature of the vulnerability means that even non-privileged attackers can exploit it remotely, increasing the attack surface. Given the interconnected nature of European digital services, a successful attack could have cascading effects on partner systems and users.

To mitigate CVE-2025-62040, European organizations should: 1) Monitor YOP Poll vendor channels for official patches and apply them immediately upon release. 2) Implement strict input validation on all user-supplied data within the polling application, ensuring that special characters are properly sanitized or escaped before rendering. 3) Employ robust output encoding techniques, such as HTML entity encoding, to neutralize any injected scripts. 4) Deploy Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts and reduce the impact of potential XSS payloads. 5) Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing focused on web application vulnerabilities, including XSS. 6) Educate users about the risks of clicking on suspicious links, especially those related to polling or survey invitations. 7) Consider isolating the polling functionality in sandboxed iframes or separate subdomains to limit the scope of any successful exploit. 8) Use Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with updated signatures that can detect and block common XSS attack patterns targeting YOP Poll. 9) Review and harden WordPress security configurations and ensure all plugins and themes are kept up to date. 10) Maintain comprehensive logging and monitoring to detect anomalous activities indicative of exploitation attempts.