CVE-2025-68275 is a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability classified under CWE-79, impacting ChurchCRM, an open-source church management system. Versions prior to 6.5.3 allow malicious actors with authenticated access to inject and store malicious scripts within user-facing pages, specifically the 'View Active People', 'View Inactive People', and 'View All People' pages. When other users visit these pages, the injected scripts execute in their browsers, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, unauthorized actions, or data leakage. The vulnerability is critical, with a CVSS 4.0 score of 9.2, reflecting its high impact on confidentiality and integrity, ease of exploitation (no privileges beyond authentication needed), and the requirement for user interaction. Although no exploits have been reported in the wild, the vulnerability's nature makes it a prime target for attackers aiming to compromise church management systems, which often contain sensitive personal and organizational data. The fix was introduced in version 6.5.3, which properly neutralizes input during web page generation to prevent script injection. The vulnerability's presence in multiple user list views increases the attack surface, making it imperative for administrators to apply patches promptly. Given the authenticated access requirement, attackers would need to compromise or create user accounts, but once inside, the impact can be severe due to the stored nature of the XSS. This vulnerability highlights the importance of secure coding practices in web applications managing sensitive community data.

For European organizations, particularly churches and religious institutions using ChurchCRM, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality and integrity of personal and organizational data. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to user sessions, theft of sensitive information such as personal details of congregation members, and potential manipulation of church records. The stored XSS could also be leveraged to spread malware or conduct phishing attacks within the organization, undermining trust and operational continuity. Given that many European countries have strict data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR), a breach resulting from this vulnerability could lead to regulatory penalties and reputational damage. The requirement for authenticated access limits exposure to some extent, but insider threats or compromised accounts increase risk. The vulnerability could disrupt church operations and erode community trust if exploited. Additionally, the high CVSS score indicates a critical threat level that demands immediate attention to prevent potential widespread impact across European religious organizations using this software.

European organizations should immediately upgrade ChurchCRM installations to version 6.5.3 or later to remediate the vulnerability. Beyond patching, administrators should enforce strong authentication controls, including multi-factor authentication (MFA), to reduce the risk of account compromise. Implement strict input validation and output encoding on all user-generated content to prevent injection of malicious scripts. Regularly audit user accounts and permissions to detect and remove unauthorized or dormant accounts. Monitor web application logs for unusual activity indicative of XSS exploitation attempts. Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts in browsers. Conduct security awareness training for users to recognize phishing and social engineering attempts that could lead to account compromise. Consider deploying web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules tailored to detect and block XSS payloads targeting ChurchCRM. Finally, maintain an incident response plan specific to web application attacks to quickly contain and remediate any exploitation.