CVE-2025-62891 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability identified in the Off-Canvas Sidebars & Menus (Slidebars) plugin developed by Jory Hogeveen, affecting versions up to and including 0.5.8.5. CSRF vulnerabilities occur when an attacker tricks an authenticated user into submitting a forged request to a web application, causing the application to perform unintended actions on behalf of the user. In this case, the Slidebars plugin lacks adequate CSRF protections, such as anti-CSRF tokens or proper request validation, enabling attackers to craft malicious web pages or links that, when visited by an authenticated user, can trigger state-changing operations within the plugin or the host application. Although no public exploits have been reported, the vulnerability is significant because it can be exploited remotely without requiring user interaction beyond visiting a malicious page, and without needing elevated privileges. The plugin is commonly used to implement off-canvas sidebars and menus in WordPress-based websites, which are prevalent in many organizational web portals. The absence of a CVSS score suggests the vulnerability is newly disclosed; however, the nature of CSRF vulnerabilities typically impacts the integrity and availability of web applications by enabling unauthorized actions such as changing settings, modifying content, or triggering administrative functions. The vulnerability affects all versions up to 0.5.8.5, and no patches or fixes have been linked yet, indicating that users must rely on interim mitigations until an official update is released. Given the plugin’s usage in web interfaces, exploitation could lead to unauthorized configuration changes or user interface manipulations, potentially disrupting normal operations or exposing sensitive data indirectly.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to the integrity and availability of web applications using the Slidebars plugin. Attackers exploiting this CSRF flaw could perform unauthorized actions such as altering menu configurations, injecting malicious content, or disrupting user navigation, which could degrade user experience or lead to further exploitation. Organizations relying on Slidebars for critical web portals or customer-facing services may experience service disruptions or reputational damage. Additionally, if administrative functions are accessible through the plugin interface, attackers might escalate the impact by modifying security settings or user permissions. The risk is amplified in sectors with high web presence such as e-commerce, government services, and media companies. Since the vulnerability does not require user interaction beyond visiting a malicious page and does not require elevated privileges, the attack surface is broad. European data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR) also impose strict requirements on data integrity and security, so exploitation leading to unauthorized changes could result in compliance violations and penalties. The lack of known exploits in the wild currently reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the potential for targeted attacks, especially as exploit code may emerge following public disclosure.

To mitigate CVE-2025-62891, organizations should first identify all instances of the Off-Canvas Sidebars & Menus (Slidebars) plugin in their web environments and determine the versions in use. Until an official patch is released, implement the following specific mitigations: 1) Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious CSRF attack patterns targeting Slidebars endpoints. 2) Enforce strict SameSite cookie attributes (preferably 'Strict') to reduce the risk of cross-origin requests carrying authentication cookies. 3) Review and harden user session management to limit session lifetimes and scope. 4) If possible, disable or restrict access to Slidebars plugin functionality for non-administrative users or limit its use to trusted internal networks. 5) Monitor web server logs for unusual POST requests or referrer headers that may indicate CSRF attempts. 6) Educate users about the risks of visiting untrusted websites while authenticated to sensitive services. Once a patch or update is available from the vendor, apply it promptly to restore proper CSRF protections. Additionally, conduct regular security assessments and penetration tests focusing on CSRF and related web vulnerabilities to ensure comprehensive protection.