CVE-2025-58849 is a high-severity Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability affecting the 'Hide Real Download Path' plugin developed by Deepak S, up to version 1.6. This vulnerability allows an attacker to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of an authenticated user without their consent. Specifically, the CSRF flaw can be leveraged to inject stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) payloads, which persist within the application. The vulnerability arises because the plugin does not adequately verify the origin or intent of requests that modify or interact with its functionality, enabling attackers to craft malicious requests that victims unknowingly execute. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.1 reflects a network attack vector with low attack complexity, no privileges required, but requiring user interaction, and impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability with a scope change. The stored XSS resulting from the CSRF can lead to session hijacking, credential theft, or further exploitation within the victim's browser context. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the combination of CSRF and stored XSS significantly raises the risk profile. The vulnerability affects all installations of the plugin up to version 1.6, which is commonly used in web environments to obscure real download URLs, often in content management systems like WordPress. The lack of available patches at the time of disclosure necessitates immediate mitigation efforts by administrators.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk, especially for those relying on the affected plugin within their web infrastructure. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized actions performed under legitimate user sessions, potentially compromising user data confidentiality and integrity. Stored XSS can facilitate widespread session hijacking, phishing, or malware distribution campaigns targeting employees or customers. This can result in data breaches, reputational damage, and regulatory non-compliance under GDPR due to unauthorized data access or manipulation. The availability impact, while rated as low to moderate, could disrupt business operations if critical downloads or services are manipulated or disabled. Organizations with public-facing websites or portals using this plugin are particularly vulnerable, as attackers can lure users into executing malicious requests. The cross-site nature of the attack means that even users with minimal privileges can be targeted, expanding the threat surface. Given the interconnected nature of European digital services, a successful attack could have cascading effects, especially in sectors like e-commerce, media, and digital content distribution.

1. Immediate action should include disabling or uninstalling the 'Hide Real Download Path' plugin until a security patch is released. 2. Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious CSRF and XSS payloads targeting the plugin endpoints. 3. Enforce strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to mitigate the impact of stored XSS by restricting script execution sources. 4. Educate users and administrators about the risks of unsolicited links and encourage the use of multi-factor authentication to reduce session hijacking risks. 5. Monitor web server and application logs for unusual POST requests or patterns indicative of CSRF exploitation attempts. 6. Once available, promptly apply vendor patches or updates addressing this vulnerability. 7. Conduct security assessments and penetration testing focusing on CSRF and XSS vectors in the affected applications. 8. Review and harden CSRF token implementations across all web applications to prevent similar vulnerabilities.