CVE-2025-4957 is a high-severity reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability identified in Metagauss ProfileGrid, a WordPress plugin used for user profile and community management. The vulnerability arises from improper neutralization of input during web page generation, classified under CWE-79. Specifically, the plugin fails to adequately sanitize or encode user-supplied input before reflecting it back in HTTP responses, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts. This reflected XSS can be triggered without authentication (PR:N) but requires user interaction (UI:R), such as clicking a crafted link. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.1, indicating a high impact with network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), and scope change (S:C). Exploitation can lead to partial confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts (C:L/I:L/A:L), such as session hijacking, defacement, or redirection to malicious sites. The affected versions include all ProfileGrid versions up to 5.9.5.7. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet. Given the plugin’s role in managing user profiles and communities, exploitation could compromise user data and trust in affected websites.

For European organizations using ProfileGrid, especially those operating community platforms, membership sites, or intranets, this vulnerability poses significant risks. Attackers could leverage the reflected XSS to steal session cookies, impersonate users, or conduct phishing attacks by injecting malicious scripts into legitimate pages. This can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive user data, reputational damage, and potential regulatory non-compliance under GDPR due to data breaches. The scope change in the CVSS vector indicates that the vulnerability can affect resources beyond the initially vulnerable component, potentially impacting multiple users. Since exploitation requires user interaction, social engineering could be used to increase success rates. The lack of available patches means organizations must act promptly to mitigate exposure. Additionally, the vulnerability could be chained with other exploits to escalate privileges or persist within the environment, increasing overall risk.

Organizations should immediately audit their WordPress installations to identify the use of ProfileGrid plugin versions up to 5.9.5.7. Until an official patch is released, implement the following mitigations: 1) Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block reflected XSS payloads targeting ProfileGrid endpoints. 2) Use Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict execution of unauthorized scripts and reduce impact of injected code. 3) Educate users to avoid clicking suspicious links and report unexpected behavior. 4) Review and harden input validation and output encoding practices if custom modifications exist. 5) Monitor web server and application logs for unusual requests indicative of exploitation attempts. 6) Plan for rapid deployment of patches once available from Metagauss. 7) Consider temporary disabling or replacing the plugin if feasible to eliminate exposure. These targeted steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on compensating controls and user awareness until vendor remediation is provided.