CVE-2025-48307 is a high-severity vulnerability classified as CWE-352, indicating a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) weakness in the 'SEO For Images' plugin developed by kasonzhao. This vulnerability allows an attacker to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of an authenticated user without their consent. Specifically, the CSRF flaw enables Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks, where malicious scripts injected by the attacker are permanently stored on the target system and executed in the context of users visiting the affected application. The vulnerability affects all versions of the SEO For Images plugin up to and including version 1.0.0, with no specific version exclusions noted. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.1 reflects a high severity, with an attack vector of network (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), but requiring user interaction (UI:R). The scope is changed (S:C), meaning the vulnerability affects resources beyond the security scope of the vulnerable component. The impact metrics indicate low confidentiality (C:L), integrity (I:L), and availability (A:L) impacts, but the combination of CSRF and stored XSS can lead to session hijacking, unauthorized actions, and persistent malicious code execution. No patches or known exploits in the wild are currently reported, but the vulnerability is publicly disclosed and should be addressed promptly to prevent exploitation.

For European organizations, especially those relying on the SEO For Images plugin for website optimization, this vulnerability poses significant risks. The stored XSS facilitated by CSRF can lead to the compromise of user sessions, theft of sensitive information such as authentication tokens, and unauthorized modification of website content or settings. This can damage organizational reputation, lead to data breaches, and potentially facilitate further attacks such as phishing or malware distribution. Given the plugin’s role in SEO, attackers might manipulate metadata or image attributes to affect search engine rankings or redirect traffic maliciously. The requirement for user interaction means that targeted phishing or social engineering campaigns could be used to trigger the exploit. Organizations with public-facing websites using this plugin are at risk of reputational damage and regulatory scrutiny under GDPR if personal data is compromised. The lack of available patches increases the urgency for mitigation.

1. Immediate mitigation should include disabling or uninstalling the SEO For Images plugin until a security patch is released. 2. Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block CSRF and XSS attack patterns targeting the plugin’s endpoints. 3. Enforce strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit the execution of unauthorized scripts and reduce the impact of stored XSS. 4. Educate users and administrators about the risks of clicking on suspicious links or performing actions from untrusted sources to reduce the likelihood of successful CSRF exploitation. 5. Regularly audit and monitor web application logs for unusual activity indicative of CSRF or XSS attempts. 6. Once a patch is available, prioritize its deployment and verify the effectiveness through security testing. 7. Consider implementing anti-CSRF tokens and input validation mechanisms if custom development is possible to harden the plugin against such attacks.