CVE-2025-4584 is a Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting the IRM Newsroom plugin for WordPress, specifically versions up to and including 1.2.17. The vulnerability arises from improper neutralization of input during web page generation (CWE-79), where the plugin's 'irmeventlist' shortcode fails to adequately sanitize and escape user-supplied attributes. This flaw allows authenticated users with contributor-level access or higher to inject arbitrary JavaScript code into pages generated by the plugin. When other users access these compromised pages, the injected scripts execute in their browsers, potentially leading to session hijacking, privilege escalation, or unauthorized actions within the context of the affected website. The vulnerability does not require user interaction beyond visiting the infected page and does not require elevated privileges beyond contributor-level access, making it moderately accessible to attackers who have some level of authenticated access. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.4, reflecting a medium severity with network attack vector, low attack complexity, and privileges required at the contributor level. The scope is changed, indicating that the vulnerability can affect components beyond the initially vulnerable plugin, potentially impacting the broader WordPress environment or connected systems. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no official patches have been released at the time of this analysis. The vulnerability's impact is primarily on confidentiality and integrity, with no direct effect on availability. Given the nature of WordPress plugins and their widespread use, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to websites using the IRM Newsroom plugin, especially those that allow multiple contributors or editors to publish content.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-4584 can be substantial, particularly for those relying on WordPress-based websites for corporate communications, news dissemination, or public relations, where the IRM Newsroom plugin is deployed. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized script execution, enabling attackers to steal session cookies, impersonate users, or manipulate displayed content, thereby damaging organizational reputation and trust. Confidential information accessible via the website or through user sessions could be compromised. Since the vulnerability requires contributor-level access, insider threats or compromised contributor accounts pose a significant risk. The integrity of published content could be undermined, affecting the reliability of information disseminated to stakeholders. While availability is not directly impacted, the reputational damage and potential regulatory consequences under GDPR for data breaches involving personal data could be severe. Organizations in sectors such as finance, media, government, and critical infrastructure, which often use WordPress for public-facing portals, may face increased risk. Additionally, the scope change in the vulnerability suggests potential cascading effects on other components, increasing the risk profile for interconnected systems.

1. Immediate mitigation should include restricting contributor-level access to trusted personnel only and enforcing strong authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) to reduce the risk of account compromise. 2. Implement strict content moderation policies to review and sanitize any user-generated content before publication, especially content submitted via the 'irmeventlist' shortcode. 3. Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious script injection attempts targeting the IRM Newsroom plugin endpoints. 4. Monitor logs for unusual activity from contributor accounts, including unexpected shortcode usage or content changes. 5. Until an official patch is released, consider disabling or removing the IRM Newsroom plugin if it is not critical to operations or replacing it with alternative plugins that do not exhibit this vulnerability. 6. Conduct regular security audits and vulnerability scans focusing on WordPress plugins and their configurations. 7. Educate contributors about secure content submission practices and the risks of injecting scripts or HTML. 8. Prepare incident response plans specifically addressing XSS exploitation scenarios to enable rapid containment and remediation.