The Sticky Action Buttons plugin for WordPress, developed by praveentamil, suffers from a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-14465. This vulnerability exists in all versions up to and including 1.1 due to missing or incorrect nonce validation in the sabs_options_page_form_submit() function, which handles plugin settings updates. Nonce validation is a security mechanism designed to ensure that requests to change settings originate from legitimate users and not from malicious third parties. Without proper nonce checks, an attacker can craft a malicious web page or email containing a forged request that, when visited or clicked by an authenticated administrator, causes unintended changes to the plugin’s configuration. Since the vulnerability does not require authentication but does require user interaction (an admin clicking a malicious link), the attack vector is social engineering combined with CSRF. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 4.3, reflecting that the attack vector is network-based (AV:N), with low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), but requiring user interaction (UI:R). The impact affects integrity (I:L) but not confidentiality or availability. There are no known exploits in the wild, and no patches or updates have been linked yet. This vulnerability could allow attackers to alter plugin settings, potentially enabling further attacks or disrupting site functionality.

For European organizations, the primary impact of this vulnerability is the unauthorized modification of plugin settings on WordPress sites, which could lead to degraded website functionality, security misconfigurations, or enablement of further attacks such as privilege escalation or persistent backdoors if attackers manipulate settings maliciously. Since WordPress powers a significant portion of websites across Europe, including many small and medium enterprises, e-commerce platforms, and public sector sites, exploitation could disrupt business operations, damage reputations, and cause compliance issues under regulations like GDPR if personal data is indirectly affected. The requirement for administrator interaction reduces the likelihood of widespread automated exploitation but increases the risk of targeted social engineering campaigns. Organizations relying on the Sticky Action Buttons plugin should be aware of the risk of attackers leveraging this vulnerability to gain footholds or manipulate site behavior.

1. Immediately audit WordPress sites for the presence of the Sticky Action Buttons plugin and identify versions in use. 2. Implement manual nonce validation in the sabs_options_page_form_submit() function if no official patch is available, ensuring all form submissions verify a valid nonce token. 3. Restrict administrative access to trusted networks or via VPN to reduce exposure to phishing attempts. 4. Educate site administrators about the risks of clicking unsolicited links, especially when logged into administrative accounts. 5. Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit the ability of malicious sites to execute unauthorized requests. 6. Monitor web server logs for unusual POST requests to plugin settings endpoints. 7. Regularly update WordPress core and plugins once official patches become available. 8. Consider implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for administrator accounts to reduce the risk of account compromise through social engineering.