CVE-2025-52773 identifies a critical SQL Injection vulnerability in the hiecor HieCOR Payment Gateway Plugin, specifically versions up to and including 1.5.11. The vulnerability arises from improper neutralization of special elements within SQL commands, allowing attackers to inject malicious SQL code. This flaw enables unauthenticated remote attackers to manipulate backend databases by crafting specially designed requests that the plugin fails to sanitize properly. The impact of such injection includes unauthorized data access, modification, deletion, or even execution of administrative commands on the database server. The CVSS v3.1 score of 9.8 reflects the vulnerability's high exploitability (network vector, low attack complexity, no privileges or user interaction required) and severe impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Although no public exploits have been reported yet, the nature of SQL Injection vulnerabilities makes them attractive targets for attackers seeking to compromise payment systems. The plugin is widely used in e-commerce environments to process payments, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous as it could expose sensitive financial and personal data. The lack of available patches at the time of disclosure necessitates immediate risk mitigation through compensating controls such as web application firewalls and input validation. The vulnerability was reserved in June 2025 and published in November 2025, indicating a recent discovery and disclosure timeline.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant threat to the security of payment processing systems, potentially leading to large-scale data breaches involving customer payment information and personal data. Exploitation could result in financial fraud, regulatory non-compliance (e.g., GDPR violations), reputational damage, and operational disruptions. Given the critical nature of payment gateways in e-commerce and retail sectors, successful attacks could halt transactions, causing revenue loss and customer trust erosion. The vulnerability's ease of exploitation without authentication or user interaction increases the risk of automated attacks and widespread exploitation attempts. European organizations operating in highly regulated environments or handling large volumes of payment data are particularly vulnerable to severe legal and financial consequences if compromised.

Immediate mitigation should focus on applying official patches from hiecor once released. Until patches are available, organizations should deploy web application firewalls (WAFs) configured to detect and block SQL Injection attempts targeting the HieCOR Payment Gateway Plugin. Implement strict input validation and sanitization on all user-supplied data interacting with the plugin, employing parameterized queries or prepared statements where possible. Conduct thorough code reviews and penetration testing to identify and remediate injection points. Monitor logs for suspicious SQL query patterns or anomalies indicative of exploitation attempts. Segment the payment gateway infrastructure to limit lateral movement in case of compromise. Additionally, maintain up-to-date backups and incident response plans tailored to payment system breaches. Engage with the vendor for timely updates and advisories.