CVE-2025-7500 is a medium-severity Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting the Ocean Social Sharing plugin for WordPress, versions up to and including 2.2.1. The vulnerability arises from improper input sanitization and insufficient output escaping of social icon titles, which are user-controllable fields within the plugin. An authenticated attacker with Contributor-level privileges or higher can exploit this flaw by injecting arbitrary JavaScript code into the social icon titles. These malicious scripts are then stored persistently and executed whenever any user accesses the affected page containing the injected content. The vulnerability leverages CWE-79, which is characterized by improper neutralization of input during web page generation, leading to XSS. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.4, reflecting a medium severity, with an attack vector of network (remote), low attack complexity, requiring privileges (Contributor or above), no user interaction, and a scope change. The impact primarily affects confidentiality and integrity, as the injected scripts can steal session tokens, perform actions on behalf of users, or manipulate page content. Availability is not impacted. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet. The vulnerability was published on August 2, 2025, with the initial reservation on July 11, 2025. The plugin is widely used in WordPress sites for social sharing features, making the attack surface significant wherever this plugin is deployed.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk to the confidentiality and integrity of web applications using the Ocean Social Sharing plugin. Exploitation could lead to session hijacking, unauthorized actions performed in the context of authenticated users, and potential data leakage. Since the attack requires Contributor-level access, it is more likely to be exploited in environments where user account management is lax or where attackers have already compromised lower-privileged accounts. The persistent nature of the XSS increases the risk as multiple users, including administrators, could be affected upon visiting the compromised pages. This can lead to reputational damage, regulatory non-compliance (e.g., GDPR violations due to data leakage), and potential lateral movement within the organization’s web infrastructure. The vulnerability does not directly affect availability but can be leveraged as a stepping stone for more severe attacks. Organizations running public-facing WordPress sites with this plugin should consider the risk elevated, especially those in sectors with high regulatory scrutiny or sensitive data handling.

1. Immediate mitigation involves restricting Contributor-level access strictly to trusted users and auditing existing user privileges to minimize the risk of exploitation. 2. Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules that detect and block typical XSS payloads targeting social icon titles or similar input fields in the plugin. 3. Monitor logs for unusual activity or injection attempts related to social icon titles. 4. Until an official patch is released, consider disabling the Ocean Social Sharing plugin or replacing it with alternative social sharing solutions that have no known vulnerabilities. 5. Conduct regular security assessments and penetration tests focusing on WordPress plugins and user input sanitization. 6. Educate content contributors about the risks of injecting untrusted content and enforce strict content validation policies. 7. Once a patch is available, prioritize prompt application of updates and verify the effectiveness of the fix through testing. 8. Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to mitigate the impact of potential XSS by restricting script execution sources.