CVE-2025-31397 is a critical SQL Injection vulnerability (CWE-89) found in the smartcms Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation plugin for WooCommerce, affecting versions up to 1.7. This vulnerability arises from improper neutralization of special elements used in SQL commands, allowing an unauthenticated attacker to inject malicious SQL queries directly into the backend database. The CVSS 3.1 score is 9.3 (critical), reflecting the high severity due to network exploitable attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), no user interaction needed (UI:N), and a scope change (S:C). The impact on confidentiality is high (C:H), while integrity is not affected (I:N), and availability impact is low (A:L). Exploitation could allow attackers to extract sensitive data such as user information, booking details, or payment data, potentially leading to data breaches or unauthorized data disclosure. The vulnerability affects the WooCommerce plugin used for bus ticket booking and seat reservation, which is typically deployed on WordPress e-commerce sites. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet, indicating the need for immediate attention from users of this plugin. Given the criticality and ease of exploitation without authentication or user interaction, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to affected systems.

For European organizations, especially those operating in the transportation, travel, and e-commerce sectors using WordPress with WooCommerce and the smartcms Bus Ticket Booking plugin, this vulnerability could lead to severe data breaches involving customer personal and payment information. The exposure of such data could result in regulatory penalties under GDPR, reputational damage, and financial losses. Additionally, the ability to perform SQL Injection without authentication increases the risk of large-scale automated attacks targeting vulnerable websites. This could disrupt business operations, erode customer trust, and potentially facilitate further attacks such as phishing or fraud using stolen data. Organizations relying on this plugin for ticketing and seat reservation services must consider the operational impact of potential data leakage and the legal implications of compromised customer data.

1. Immediate action should be to monitor for updates or patches from the smartcms vendor and apply them as soon as they become available. 2. Until a patch is released, organizations should consider disabling the vulnerable plugin or replacing it with alternative, secure ticket booking solutions. 3. Implement Web Application Firewalls (WAF) with custom rules to detect and block SQL Injection payloads targeting the plugin's endpoints. 4. Conduct thorough code reviews and penetration testing focused on SQL Injection vectors within the plugin's functionality. 5. Restrict database user permissions associated with the WordPress installation to the minimum necessary, preventing unauthorized data access or modification. 6. Enable detailed logging and monitoring to detect suspicious database queries or unusual application behavior. 7. Educate development and security teams about the risks of SQL Injection and secure coding practices to prevent similar vulnerabilities in custom or third-party plugins.