CVE-2025-49953 identifies a reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the themeinity ShareBang, Ultimate Social Share Buttons plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 1.4. The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of input during web page generation, which allows an attacker to inject malicious JavaScript code into URLs or form inputs that are reflected back in the web page without proper sanitization or encoding. When a victim clicks on a crafted link containing the malicious payload, the script executes in their browser context, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, defacement, or redirection to malicious websites. The CVSS v3.1 score of 7.1 reflects a high severity, with an attack vector of network (remote), low attack complexity, no privileges required, but user interaction needed. The scope is changed, indicating that exploitation can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability poses a significant risk due to the popularity of WordPress and social sharing plugins, which are commonly used on websites to facilitate content distribution. The plugin’s improper input handling highlights a common security weakness in web applications where user-supplied data is embedded into HTML output without adequate escaping or validation. This vulnerability can be leveraged by attackers to perform phishing, steal cookies or tokens, and manipulate website content, undermining user trust and organizational security.

For European organizations, this vulnerability can lead to significant security incidents including unauthorized access to user accounts, data leakage, and reputational damage. Organizations relying on WordPress websites with the affected ShareBang plugin may experience session hijacking or credential theft, enabling attackers to impersonate legitimate users or administrators. This can facilitate further attacks such as privilege escalation or data exfiltration. The reflected XSS can also be used to deliver malware or conduct phishing campaigns targeting European users, potentially violating GDPR requirements related to data protection and breach notification. The availability of the website could be impacted if attackers deface or disrupt services. Given the extensive use of WordPress in Europe, especially among SMEs and public sector entities, the threat surface is considerable. The lack of known exploits in the wild currently reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the potential for rapid exploitation once proof-of-concept code becomes available. The cross-site scripting vulnerability also undermines user trust in affected websites, which can have long-term business impacts.

1. Monitor for and apply security patches or updates from the plugin vendor as soon as they are released to remediate the vulnerability. 2. If an immediate patch is unavailable, consider disabling or removing the ShareBang plugin to eliminate the attack vector. 3. Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules specifically designed to detect and block reflected XSS payloads targeting WordPress plugins. 4. Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts and reduce the impact of XSS attacks. 5. Conduct regular security audits and code reviews of WordPress plugins and themes to identify and remediate insecure coding practices. 6. Educate users and administrators about the risks of clicking on suspicious links and encourage the use of multi-factor authentication to mitigate session hijacking risks. 7. Utilize security plugins for WordPress that provide input sanitization and output encoding features to harden the site against injection attacks. 8. Monitor web server and application logs for unusual activity that may indicate exploitation attempts.