CVE-2025-46495 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability identified in the tomontoast Drop Caps plugin, affecting versions up to 2.1. The vulnerability allows an attacker to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of an authenticated user without their consent. Specifically, this CSRF flaw enables the injection of Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) payloads, which are malicious scripts permanently stored on the target system and executed when a user accesses the affected content. The root cause lies in the absence or improper implementation of anti-CSRF tokens or other request validation mechanisms in the Drop Caps plugin, allowing attackers to craft malicious requests that the server accepts as legitimate. Once exploited, the attacker can inject persistent scripts that execute in the context of the victim’s browser, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or further exploitation of the victim’s environment. The vulnerability affects the Drop Caps plugin, commonly used to stylize initial letters in web content, and is relevant for any web application or content management system utilizing this plugin. No patches or fixes have been published yet, and no known exploits are currently observed in the wild. The vulnerability was publicly disclosed on April 24, 2025, and is categorized under CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery).

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a moderate risk primarily to web applications using the tomontoast Drop Caps plugin. The Stored XSS resulting from CSRF exploitation can compromise user sessions, leading to unauthorized access to sensitive information, data manipulation, or the spread of malware within the organization’s network. This is particularly concerning for sectors handling sensitive personal data, such as finance, healthcare, and government services, where data confidentiality and integrity are paramount under regulations like GDPR. Additionally, the exploitation could facilitate phishing or social engineering attacks by injecting malicious content into trusted websites, damaging organizational reputation and trust. While the vulnerability requires the victim to be authenticated and visit a maliciously crafted page, the widespread use of web browsers and the potential for social engineering increase the attack surface. The absence of known active exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers may develop exploits once the vulnerability becomes widely known.

1. Immediate review and removal or disabling of the tomontoast Drop Caps plugin until a security patch is released. 2. Implement Web Application Firewalls (WAF) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious POST requests targeting the Drop Caps plugin endpoints. 3. Enforce strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit the execution of unauthorized scripts and reduce the impact of potential XSS payloads. 4. Conduct thorough input validation and sanitization on all user inputs related to the Drop Caps plugin to prevent script injection. 5. Educate users and administrators about the risks of CSRF and XSS, emphasizing cautious behavior regarding unsolicited links or emails. 6. Monitor web server and application logs for unusual POST requests or patterns indicative of CSRF attempts. 7. Once available, promptly apply vendor patches or updates addressing this vulnerability. 8. Consider implementing SameSite cookie attributes to mitigate CSRF risks by restricting cross-origin requests. These measures go beyond generic advice by focusing on immediate plugin management, network-level defenses, and user awareness tailored to the specific vulnerability context.