The vulnerability CVE-2025-11768 affects the Islamic Phrases plugin for WordPress, specifically versions up to and including 2.12.2015. It is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) flaw categorized under CWE-79, caused by improper neutralization of input during web page generation. The issue stems from insufficient sanitization and escaping of the 'phrases' shortcode attribute, allowing authenticated users with contributor-level permissions or higher to inject arbitrary JavaScript code into WordPress pages. When other users visit these pages, the malicious scripts execute in their browsers, potentially leading to session hijacking, privilege escalation, or unauthorized actions within the context of the victim's session. The vulnerability requires no user interaction beyond visiting the infected page but does require the attacker to have contributor or higher access, which is a moderate barrier. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.4, reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, privileges required, no user interaction, and a scope change with low confidentiality and integrity impacts but no availability impact. No patches or exploits are currently documented, but the vulnerability is publicly known and published by Wordfence. This vulnerability is particularly relevant for WordPress sites that use the Islamic Phrases plugin and allow multiple contributors, as it can be leveraged to compromise site visitors or administrators.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to websites that use the Islamic Phrases WordPress plugin and have contributor-level users who can inject malicious content. The impact includes potential theft of user credentials, session hijacking, defacement, or unauthorized actions performed under the victim's session. Confidentiality and integrity of user data can be compromised, especially for sites handling sensitive or personal information. Although availability is not directly affected, the reputational damage and potential regulatory consequences under GDPR for data breaches involving personal data could be significant. Organizations with public-facing WordPress sites catering to Islamic communities or multilingual content may be targeted. The vulnerability could also be leveraged as a foothold for further attacks within the network if administrative accounts are compromised. The medium severity score reflects these risks but also the requirement for authenticated access limits the attack surface somewhat.

1. Immediately restrict contributor and higher-level user permissions to trusted individuals only, minimizing the risk of malicious shortcode injection. 2. Implement strict input validation and output escaping for all shortcode attributes, especially the 'phrases' attribute, to prevent script injection. 3. Monitor WordPress sites for unusual shortcode usage or unexpected script tags in page content. 4. Apply web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block common XSS payloads targeting this plugin. 5. If possible, disable or replace the Islamic Phrases plugin with a secure alternative until a patch is available. 6. Educate contributors about the risks of injecting untrusted content and enforce content review workflows. 7. Regularly audit user roles and permissions to ensure least privilege principles are maintained. 8. Keep WordPress core and all plugins updated to the latest versions to reduce exposure to known vulnerabilities. 9. Consider implementing Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to mitigate the impact of XSS attacks by restricting script execution sources.