CVE-2025-49449 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability identified in the WordPress plugin 'Interactive Regional Map of Africa' developed by WP Map Plugins. The vulnerability affects versions up to 1.0, with no specific version range detailed. CSRF vulnerabilities occur when an attacker tricks an authenticated user into submitting a forged request to a web application, causing the application to perform unwanted actions on behalf of the user without their consent. In this case, the vulnerability allows an attacker to craft malicious requests that, when executed by an authenticated administrator or user with sufficient privileges, could alter plugin settings or perform other state-changing operations within the plugin context. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.3, indicating a medium severity level. The vector string (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N) reveals that the attack can be performed remotely over the network without privileges but requires user interaction (such as clicking a malicious link). The impact is limited to integrity (I:L) with no confidentiality or availability impact. No known exploits are currently in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-352, which is a common web security weakness related to CSRF attacks. This vulnerability is significant for websites using this plugin, as it could allow attackers to manipulate plugin behavior indirectly by leveraging authenticated users' sessions.

For European organizations, especially those operating WordPress websites that utilize the 'Interactive Regional Map of Africa' plugin, this vulnerability poses a moderate risk. While the direct impact is limited to integrity and does not affect confidentiality or availability, unauthorized changes to the plugin's settings or map data could lead to misinformation, defacement, or manipulation of displayed regional data. This can undermine trust in the organization's web presence and potentially affect decision-making if the map data is used for business or informational purposes. Additionally, if the compromised plugin is part of a larger content management or customer-facing system, attackers might use this as a foothold for further attacks or social engineering. The requirement for user interaction and the absence of privilege requirements lower the risk somewhat, but the vulnerability still demands attention to prevent exploitation. European organizations with public-facing WordPress sites, particularly those involved in geographic, educational, or regional data presentation related to Africa, should be vigilant.

To mitigate this CSRF vulnerability, European organizations should implement the following specific measures: 1) Immediately review and apply any available patches or updates from WP Map Plugins once released. 2) If no patch is available, consider temporarily disabling the 'Interactive Regional Map of Africa' plugin to prevent exploitation. 3) Implement web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules to detect and block suspicious CSRF attack patterns targeting the plugin's endpoints. 4) Enforce strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to reduce the risk of malicious script execution that could facilitate CSRF attacks. 5) Educate users, especially administrators, about the risks of clicking on unsolicited links or visiting untrusted websites while logged into WordPress admin panels. 6) Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for WordPress admin accounts to reduce the risk of session hijacking that could be leveraged in CSRF attacks. 7) Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing focusing on CSRF and other web vulnerabilities in WordPress plugins. 8) Monitor logs for unusual POST requests or changes in plugin settings that could indicate attempted exploitation.