CVE-2025-7649 is a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in the Surbma | Recent Comments Shortcode WordPress plugin, affecting all versions up to and including 2.0. The issue stems from improper neutralization of input during web page generation, specifically insufficient input sanitization and output escaping of user-supplied attributes in the 'recent-comments' shortcode. This allows authenticated users with contributor-level access or higher to inject arbitrary scripts that persist and execute in the context of users viewing the injected pages. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 score of 6.4, reflecting a medium severity impact with network attack vector, low attack complexity, and no user interaction required.

Successful exploitation allows an authenticated contributor or higher to inject persistent malicious scripts into pages via the shortcode attributes. These scripts execute in the browsers of users who visit the affected pages, potentially leading to information disclosure or session hijacking. The impact is limited to confidentiality and integrity with no direct availability impact. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.

Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, restrict contributor-level access to trusted users only and consider disabling or removing the Surbma | Recent Comments Shortcode plugin if possible to prevent exploitation.