CVE-2025-68978 is a DOM-based Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability identified in the designthemes DesignThemes Core product, affecting all versions up to and including 1.6. The vulnerability arises from improper neutralization of user-supplied input during the generation of web pages, allowing malicious scripts to be injected and executed in the context of the victim's browser. This type of XSS is particularly dangerous because it exploits client-side code, making detection and mitigation more challenging. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.1, indicating medium severity, with the vector string AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N. This means the attack can be launched remotely over the network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges, but does require user interaction (such as clicking a crafted link). The scope is changed, indicating that the vulnerability affects components beyond the initially vulnerable component, potentially impacting the entire security context. The impact includes limited confidentiality and integrity loss, such as theft of session tokens, user impersonation, or unauthorized manipulation of web page content. There is no known exploit in the wild at the time of publication, and no official patches or fixes have been released. The vulnerability was reserved and published in late December 2025 by Patchstack. Given the nature of the vulnerability, attackers could craft malicious URLs or payloads that, when visited by users of affected web applications, execute arbitrary JavaScript code, potentially leading to phishing, session hijacking, or defacement. The affected product, DesignThemes Core, is a web framework or theme core used in website development, which may be integrated into various web platforms. The lack of patches necessitates immediate attention from organizations using this product to implement interim mitigations.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a moderate risk primarily to web applications built on or incorporating DesignThemes Core up to version 1.6. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information such as session cookies or personal data, violating GDPR requirements and potentially resulting in regulatory penalties. Integrity impacts include the possibility of attackers injecting malicious scripts that alter web page content or behavior, undermining user trust and damaging brand reputation. Although availability is not directly impacted, the indirect consequences of compromised user sessions or defaced websites could disrupt business operations. Organizations in sectors with high web interaction, such as e-commerce, finance, and public services, are particularly at risk. The requirement for user interaction means phishing or social engineering campaigns could facilitate exploitation, increasing the threat surface. The absence of known exploits currently provides a window for proactive mitigation, but the medium severity score indicates that timely action is necessary to prevent escalation. Overall, the vulnerability could facilitate targeted attacks against European entities relying on affected web components, with potential legal and financial repercussions.

Given the absence of official patches, European organizations should implement the following specific mitigations: 1) Conduct an immediate inventory to identify all instances of DesignThemes Core version 1.6 or earlier in their web infrastructure. 2) Apply strict input validation and sanitization on all user-supplied data that could be reflected or processed in the DOM, using allowlists and context-aware encoding techniques to neutralize potentially malicious scripts. 3) Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers with restrictive directives (e.g., disallowing inline scripts and untrusted sources) to reduce the impact of injected scripts. 4) Educate users and administrators about the risks of clicking untrusted links to reduce successful phishing attempts. 5) Monitor web application logs and user behavior for anomalies indicative of XSS exploitation attempts. 6) Where feasible, isolate or sandbox affected components to limit the scope of potential compromise. 7) Prepare for rapid patch deployment once official fixes become available from designthemes. 8) Consider using web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious payloads targeting this vulnerability. These measures, combined, will reduce the likelihood and impact of exploitation until a permanent fix is released.