CVE-2025-58262 Overview
CVE-2025-58262 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability [CWE-352] affecting the WPDirectoryKit Sweet Energy Efficiency WordPress plugin. The flaw impacts all plugin versions up to and including 1.0.8. An attacker who tricks an authenticated administrator into visiting a malicious page can trigger state-changing requests that result in Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). The injected payload persists in the WordPress backend and executes in the browser of any user who views the affected content.
Critical Impact
Successful exploitation enables persistent script execution in administrator browser sessions, leading to session hijacking, content manipulation, and potential site takeover through follow-on actions.
Affected Products
- WPDirectoryKit Sweet Energy Efficiency plugin for WordPress
- All versions from n/a through 1.0.8
- WordPress sites running the sweet-energy-efficiency plugin
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-09-22 - CVE-2025-58262 published to NVD
- 2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-58262
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability combines two weaknesses into a single exploitation chain. The plugin exposes state-changing endpoints that do not validate anti-CSRF tokens, allowing forged requests submitted from external origins to succeed when an authenticated user's browser carries valid session cookies. The same endpoints also fail to sanitize or encode user-supplied input before storing it, which enables stored XSS once the forged request is processed.
The Exploit Prediction Scoring System places exploitation probability low, but the impact extends beyond the initial victim because stored payloads execute for every subsequent viewer of the affected page. The attack requires user interaction, typically clicking a crafted link or visiting an attacker-controlled page while authenticated to WordPress.
Root Cause
The plugin omits nonce verification on requests that modify persistent data. WordPress provides wp_nonce_field() and check_admin_referer() primitives specifically to prevent CSRF, but the affected handlers do not invoke them. Combined with missing output escaping via functions such as esc_html() or esc_attr(), attacker-supplied JavaScript is written verbatim into the database and rendered to clients.
Attack Vector
An attacker hosts a page containing an auto-submitting form or fetch() call targeting a vulnerable plugin endpoint on the victim's WordPress site. The payload field carries JavaScript wrapped in HTML such as a <script> tag or an event handler attribute. When an authenticated administrator visits the attacker's page, the browser submits the request with valid cookies. The server stores the payload, and the script fires whenever the affected directory entry is rendered. Refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for additional technical context.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-58262
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected <script> tags, onerror, onload, or javascript: URIs stored in wp_posts, wp_postmeta, or plugin-specific tables
- HTTP POST requests to sweet-energy-efficiency admin endpoints with Referer headers pointing to external domains
- Administrator sessions exhibiting unexplained outbound requests to attacker-controlled domains shortly after viewing directory pages
Detection Strategies
- Scan plugin-managed database tables for HTML and JavaScript patterns that should not appear in directory content fields
- Review WordPress access logs for state-changing requests to plugin endpoints that lack a _wpnonce parameter
- Correlate administrator browser activity with directory page loads to identify post-render script execution
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable WordPress audit logging to capture plugin configuration changes and content modifications
- Forward web server access logs to a centralized analytics platform and alert on cross-origin Referer headers on plugin admin URLs
- Monitor for new outbound network destinations originating from administrator workstations after WordPress sessions
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-58262
Immediate Actions Required
- Disable the Sweet Energy Efficiency plugin until a patched release is verified and installed
- Audit existing directory entries for stored script payloads and remove any injected content
- Force-rotate administrator passwords and invalidate active WordPress sessions to revoke any hijacked cookies
Patch Information
At the time of publication, no fixed version above 1.0.8 is referenced in the advisory. Site operators should monitor the Patchstack Vulnerability Report and the plugin repository for an updated release. Apply the vendor patch as soon as it becomes available.
Workarounds
- Remove or deactivate the sweet-energy-efficiency plugin in wp-content/plugins/ until a fix is published
- Restrict access to WordPress admin paths via web server allowlists or a web application firewall rule that requires a valid _wpnonce parameter
- Apply a Content Security Policy that disallows inline scripts to reduce the impact of stored XSS execution
# Configuration example: deactivate the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate sweet-energy-efficiency
wp plugin status sweet-energy-efficiency
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
