CVE-2025-28925 identifies a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the WATI Chat and Notification plugin developed by Hieu Nguyen, affecting versions up to and including 1.1.2. CSRF vulnerabilities allow attackers to trick authenticated users into submitting unwanted requests to a web application, potentially causing unauthorized actions. In this case, the CSRF vulnerability facilitates Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), where malicious scripts injected by the attacker are stored on the server and executed in the context of other users' browsers. This combination is particularly dangerous because it can lead to session hijacking, data theft, or further compromise of the affected system. The vulnerability does not require user interaction beyond the victim being authenticated, and no authentication bypass is necessary for the attacker to exploit the flaw if the victim visits a malicious site. Although no exploits have been reported in the wild, the lack of patches and the presence of stored XSS elevate the risk. The vulnerability affects web environments using the WATI Chat and Notification plugin, which is commonly integrated into websites for real-time communication and notifications. The absence of a CVSS score means severity must be inferred from the technical details: the stored XSS combined with CSRF indicates a high potential impact on confidentiality and integrity, with moderate impact on availability. The vulnerability was published in March 2025, with no official patch links available at this time.

If exploited, this vulnerability could allow attackers to execute persistent malicious scripts within the context of the affected web application, leading to theft of sensitive user information such as session cookies, credentials, or personal data. The CSRF aspect means attackers can perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users without their consent, potentially modifying settings, sending messages, or injecting further malicious content. This could result in widespread compromise of user accounts and data integrity, damage to organizational reputation, and regulatory compliance issues. The stored XSS can also facilitate the spread of malware or phishing campaigns targeting users of affected sites. Organizations relying on WATI Chat and Notification for critical communication may experience service disruption or data breaches. The absence of known exploits in the wild suggests the threat is currently theoretical but could become active once exploit code is developed or disclosed. The impact is especially severe for organizations with high user interaction on affected platforms, including e-commerce, customer support, and internal communication systems.

To mitigate this vulnerability, organizations should immediately implement anti-CSRF tokens in all state-changing requests within the WATI Chat and Notification plugin to ensure requests are legitimate and originate from authenticated users. Input validation and sanitization must be enforced rigorously to prevent injection of malicious scripts, particularly in user-generated content fields. Output encoding should be applied to all data rendered in the browser to neutralize any stored XSS payloads. Until an official patch is released, consider disabling or restricting the plugin's functionality to trusted users only or removing it entirely if feasible. Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) can be configured to detect and block suspicious CSRF and XSS attack patterns. Regular security audits and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities. Educate users about the risks of clicking on suspicious links and encourage the use of multi-factor authentication to reduce the impact of session hijacking. Monitor security advisories from the vendor and apply patches promptly once available.