CVE-2025-9126 is a medium-severity stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting the Smart Table Builder plugin for WordPress, developed by designful. This vulnerability exists in all versions up to and including 1.0.1 due to improper input sanitization and output escaping of the ‘id’ parameter. Specifically, authenticated users with Contributor-level access or higher can inject arbitrary malicious scripts into pages generated by the plugin. These scripts execute in the context of any user who views the compromised page, potentially leading to session hijacking, privilege escalation, or unauthorized actions within the affected WordPress site. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79, indicating improper neutralization of input during web page generation. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.4, reflecting a medium severity with network attack vector, low attack complexity, requiring privileges (Contributor or above), no user interaction, and a scope change. The impact affects confidentiality and integrity but not availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet. The vulnerability was published on September 6, 2025, with the initial reservation date on August 18, 2025. The vulnerability’s exploitation requires authenticated access, which limits the attack surface but still poses a significant risk in multi-user WordPress environments where contributors or editors have access. Given WordPress’s widespread use, especially in European organizations for content management, this vulnerability could be leveraged to compromise site integrity and user trust if not addressed promptly.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-9126 can be significant, particularly for those relying on WordPress sites with multi-user content management workflows. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized script execution, resulting in theft of session cookies, defacement, or injection of malicious content that could harm the organization’s reputation and user trust. Confidentiality breaches could expose sensitive user data or administrative credentials. Integrity loss could allow attackers to manipulate displayed content or redirect users to malicious sites. Although availability is not directly impacted, the indirect consequences such as loss of customer confidence or regulatory penalties under GDPR for data breaches could be severe. Organizations in sectors like media, government, education, and e-commerce that use WordPress extensively are at higher risk. The requirement for authenticated access means insider threats or compromised contributor accounts could be leveraged to exploit this vulnerability. Additionally, the scope change in CVSS indicates that the vulnerability can affect resources beyond the initially targeted component, potentially impacting other parts of the WordPress site or integrated systems.

1. Immediate mitigation should include restricting Contributor-level access to trusted users only and auditing existing user roles to minimize unnecessary privileges. 2. Implement web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious payloads targeting the ‘id’ parameter in Smart Table Builder plugin requests. 3. Monitor logs for unusual activity from authenticated users, especially those with Contributor or higher roles, to detect potential exploitation attempts. 4. Until an official patch is released, consider disabling or removing the Smart Table Builder plugin if it is not critical to operations. 5. For sites that must continue using the plugin, apply manual input validation and output encoding at the application level if feasible, or use security plugins that provide enhanced XSS protection. 6. Educate content contributors about the risks of injecting untrusted content and enforce strict content policies. 7. Once a patch is available, prioritize immediate update of the plugin to the fixed version. 8. Conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing focusing on user input handling in WordPress plugins.