Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain low-privileged WP account
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DeliverySubmit crafted payload to Starter Templates field
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ExploitPayload stored unsanitized
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ExecutionAdmin views injected content
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PersistScript executes in admin browser
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ImpactHijack session / perform privileged actions
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Output encoding, context-aware escaping
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Initial Access, Execution The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires an authenticated WordPress account with at least low-level privileges (PR:L) capable of submitting content through the Starter Templates (astra-sites) plugin, plus a second user - typically an administrator or editor - who must subsequently view the stored malicious content for the payload to execute (UI:R). Limiting factors: the attacker needs a valid account on the target site (so sites that do not permit untrusted user registration or restrict low-privilege roles are far less exposed), the payload only fires upon victim rendering rather than automatically, and the affected code path is the Starter Templates plugin specifically (versions up to and including 4.7.7). This is not remote-unauthenticated; the account prerequisite meaningfully narrows the realistic attacker population. |
| Impact | This is a moderate-severity stored XSS (CVSS 6.5, CWE-79) that realistically warrants routine-but-not-emergency patching. The CVSS vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L shows network reach and low attack complexity, but two meaningful brakes: PR:L requires an authenticated (low-privileged) account, and UI:R requires a victim to view the injected content before the payload fires. The scope change (S:C) is consistent with stored XSS, where script injected by one user executes in another user's (often an administrator's) browser session, which is why confidentiality and integrity are rated. No EPSS score, CISA KEV entry, or public POC was provided in the input, so there is no evidence of active exploitation or weaponization. Net: a genuine but middling-priority issue - real-world risk hinges on how loosely the site grants contributor/author-level accounts, not on mass remote exploitation. The only intelligence source is a single Patchstack advisory; the fixed version is not stated in the input ('n/a through 4.7.7'), so the remediation target should be verified with the vendor/Patchstack before deployment. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A low-privileged authenticated user (e.g., a contributor or author on a multi-user WordPress site) submits a crafted payload through a Starter Templates input field that is stored without proper neutralization. When an administrator or other user later views that content in wp-admin or on a page, the stored JavaScript executes in their browser, enabling session/cookie theft or actions in the victim's context. No public exploit code was identified at time of analysis. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 05, 2026
Stored cross-site scripting in the Brainstorm Force Starter Templates (astra-sites) WordPress plugin, affecting all versions through 4.7.7, allows an authenticated user with only low-level privileges to plant persistent JavaScript that executes in the browser of a higher-privileged user (such as an administrator or editor) who later views the affected page. Rated CVSS 6.5 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N), exploitation consumes a valid low-privilege account plus victim interaction, so it is not remote-unauthenticated and the realistic attacker population is limited to sites that permit untrusted registration or loose role assignment. There is no CISA KEV listing and no public exploit code identified at time of analysis; risk is moderate and warrants routine rather than emergency patching.
RemediationAI
Update the Starter Templates (astra-sites) WordPress plugin to a release later than 4.7.7 as documented in the Patchstack advisory for this CVE (https://patchstack.com/database/wordpress/plugin/astra-sites/vulnerability/wordpress-starter-templates-plugin-4-7-7-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability); patch status is 'no vendor-released patch identified in the provided data at time of analysis', so the exact fixed version should be confirmed against that advisory and the WordPress.org plugin repository before relying on it. The upgrade is a standard in-place WordPress plugin update and carries minimal functional risk, but sites using heavily customized template imports should stage the update first. If immediate patching is not possible, compensating controls include: temporarily deactivating the Starter Templates plugin if template import/preview is not actively in use - the trade-off is total loss of the site-building feature; restricting which roles can access the plugin's import and preview screens, for example by removing contributor/author access to those admin pages or tightening role assignment so that untrusted users cannot obtain accounts that reach the vulnerable code path - this reduces exposure but does not eliminate risk from any legitimate low-privilege account; and disabling open user registration or enforcing administrative approval of new accounts, which removes the PR:L prerequisite for anonymous attackers at the cost of restricting site sign-ups. Where a WAF is available, apply generic or targeted XSS rules covering the plugin's endpoints as a stopgap only, since signature evasions and same-origin stored payloads limit the reliability of this control. Note that the victim in this scenario is typically a privileged user, so administrators should also review recently imported template content for injected markup and, if exploitation is suspected, treat administrator sessions as potentially compromised and rotate credentials and salts.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The vulnerability is CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation), the classic cross-site scripting class, in its stored/persistent variant rather than reflected. Brainstorm Force's Starter Templates plugin (WordPress slug astra-sites) is a site-building helper that lets users browse and import pre-built page templates; a code path in that workflow accepts user-supplied input and later renders it into an HTML page without adequate output encoding or sanitization, so the injected markup is persisted server-side and replayed to every subsequent viewer of the poisoned content. Because the payload is stored, it does not require the attacker to lure the victim to a crafted URL - the victim simply has to load the affected page, which is why the UI:R prerequisite is satisfied incidentally by normal administrative browsing. The CVSS scope change (S:C) reflects that the injected script runs in the context of a higher-privileged victim, so impact can exceed the privileges of the injecting account, although the assessed confidentiality, integrity and availability impacts remain Low. The affected CPE is cpe:2.3:a:brainstorm_force:starter_templates:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*, with the vulnerable range bounded at version 4.7.7; the advisory is published by Patchstack under the WordPress plugin vulnerability database.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
Authenticated low-priv submission (PR:L) with victim rendering required (UI:R); stored XSS crosses into another user's session (S:C) affecting confidentiality/integrity but not availability (A:N).
Primary rating from Vendor (Patchstack).
CVSS VectorVendor: Patchstack
DescriptionCVE.org
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in Brainstorm Force Starter Templates astra-sites allows Stored XSS.This issue affects Starter Templates: from n/a through 4.7.7.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Cross-Site Scripting occurs when an application accepts untrusted data and sends it to a web browser without proper validation or encoding.
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