CVE-2025-48078 identifies a critical security flaw in the Norbert Slick Google Map plugin, specifically versions up to 0.3. The vulnerability is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) issue that enables attackers to trick authenticated users into submitting malicious requests without their consent. This CSRF flaw leads to Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), where malicious scripts are permanently stored on the target web application, potentially affecting all users who access the compromised content. The attack vector is network-based (AV:N), requires no privileges (PR:N), but does require user interaction (UI:R). The vulnerability impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H), allowing attackers to steal sensitive data, manipulate content, or disrupt service. The plugin’s lack of proper CSRF protections and insufficient input sanitization facilitates this exploit. Although no known exploits are currently in the wild and no patches have been released, the high CVSS score (8.8) reflects the severity and ease of exploitation. Organizations using this plugin in their web environments, especially those with public-facing sites, are vulnerable to targeted attacks that could lead to significant data breaches or service disruptions.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a substantial risk to web applications that integrate the Slick Google Map plugin. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized actions performed on behalf of users, data theft, defacement, or injection of malicious scripts that compromise user sessions and credentials. This could result in reputational damage, regulatory penalties under GDPR due to data breaches, and operational downtime. Organizations in sectors such as e-commerce, government, and critical infrastructure that rely on interactive maps for user engagement or service delivery are particularly vulnerable. The stored XSS aspect means that once exploited, the malicious payload can affect all visitors to the compromised site, amplifying the impact. The absence of patches increases the window of exposure, making proactive mitigation essential.

Immediate mitigation should focus on disabling or removing the Slick Google Map plugin from production environments until a security patch is released. Web administrators should implement robust CSRF protections, including the use of anti-CSRF tokens for all state-changing requests. Input validation and output encoding must be enforced to prevent stored XSS payloads from being injected or executed. Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) can be configured to detect and block suspicious requests targeting the plugin’s endpoints. Regular security audits and monitoring for unusual user activity or injected scripts are recommended. Organizations should also maintain an inventory of web plugins and ensure timely updates. Engaging with the vendor or community to track patch releases and applying them promptly is critical. User education to recognize phishing attempts that could trigger CSRF attacks adds an additional layer of defense.