Cross-Site Request Forgery
Cross-Site Request Forgery exploits the automatic credential inclusion behavior of web browsers.
How It Works
Cross-Site Request Forgery exploits the automatic credential inclusion behavior of web browsers. When a user authenticates to a web application, the browser stores session cookies that are automatically attached to every subsequent request to that domain—regardless of which website initiated the request. An attacker leverages this by crafting a malicious webpage containing requests to a target application, such as hidden forms that auto-submit on page load or images with URLs triggering state-changing actions.
The attack succeeds when the victim, while authenticated to the target application, visits the attacker's page. The browser dutifully includes the victim's session cookies with the forged request, making it appear legitimate to the server. The target application executes the action as if the authenticated user intentionally initiated it.
Common attack vectors include hidden HTML forms with auto-submit JavaScript, malicious image tags where the src attribute points to an action URL, and links embedded in phishing emails. The key requirement is that request parameters must be predictable—if the attacker can construct the entire request without knowing any secret values, the attack will succeed.
Impact
- Account takeover: Password or email address changes, locking out legitimate users
- Financial fraud: Unauthorized fund transfers, purchases, or subscription modifications
- Privilege escalation: Creation of admin accounts or modification of user roles
- Data manipulation: Deletion of records, modification of settings, or content publishing
- Social engineering amplification: Forced social media posts or message sending to spread malware
Real-World Examples
Banking applications have been frequent CSRF targets, with attackers creating malicious pages that automatically initiate wire transfers when visited by authenticated customers. One notable case involved a router configuration vulnerability where attackers embedded requests in forum posts to silently change DNS settings on victims' home routers, redirecting traffic through malicious servers.
YouTube suffered a CSRF vulnerability that allowed attackers to perform actions like adding videos to favorites or subscribing to channels on behalf of authenticated users by embedding malicious requests in external websites. The attack demonstrated how CSRF can manipulate social features at scale.
Content management systems have historically been vulnerable, with attacks forcing authenticated administrators to create new admin accounts or install malicious plugins simply by visiting attacker-controlled pages while logged into the CMS backend.
Mitigation
- Synchronizer tokens: Generate unpredictable, per-session or per-request tokens that must accompany state-changing requests
- SameSite cookie attribute: Set to
StrictorLaxto prevent cookies from being sent with cross-origin requests - Double-submit cookies: Require a cookie value to match a request parameter, making cross-origin forgery impossible
- Custom request headers: Use JavaScript to add headers that cross-origin requests cannot set
- Re-authentication: Require password confirmation for sensitive actions like email or password changes
- Referer validation: Verify the request originated from your domain (less reliable, can be bypassed)
Recent CVEs (8761)
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Rara Theme Spa and Salon.2.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Pagelayer PopularFX.2.4. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in creativethemeshq Blocksy blocksy.0.22. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in RebelCode Spotlight Social Media Feeds.6.10. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Smash Balloon Smash Balloon Social Post Feed.2.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in MailMunch MailChimp Forms by MailMunch.2.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Andrew Dashboard To-Do List dashboard-to-do-list.3.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Scott Bolinger AppPresser apppresser allows Cross Site Request Forgery.3.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in E2Pdf e2pdf e2pdf.20.27. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Pixelite Login With Ajax.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in RedNao Extra Product Options Builder for WooCommerce.2.104. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Themeinwp NewsXpress.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Live Composer Team Page Builder: Live Composer.5.35. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in PluginOps Feather Login Page.1.5. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Anton Aleksandrov WordPress Hosting Benchmark tool.3.6. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Etoile Web Design Ultimate Product Catalogue.2.15. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Tyche Softwares Currency per Product for WooCommerce.6.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Stefano Lissa & The Newsletter Team Newsletter.0.6. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in StellarWP The Events Calendar the-events-calendar.3.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Tyche Softwares Product Input Fields for WooCommerce.7.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Blossom Themes Sarada Lite.1.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Rara Theme The Conference.2.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Marker.Io Marker.Io.Io : from n/a through 1.1.8. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Data443 Inline Related Posts.3.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in TMS Amelia.0.95. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Hamid Alinia Login with phone number login-with-phone-number.6.93. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Philippe Bernard Favicon.3.29. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A potential security vulnerability has been identified in Hewlett Packard Enterprise OfficeConnect 1820 Network switches. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in impleCode eCommerce Product Catalog.3.28. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Codemenschen Gift Vouchers.4.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in perrinalexandre05 AffiEasy affieasy.1.4. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Tyche Softwares Order Delivery Date for WooCommerce.20.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Themefic BEAF beaf-before-and-after-gallery.5.4. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in libsyn Libsyn Publisher Hub libsyn-podcasting.4.4. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in XLPlugins NextMove Lite.18.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Epss exploitation probability 15.1% and no vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Siteimprove.0.6. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Scott Kingsley Clark Crony Cronjob Manager.5.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Omnisend Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend omnisend-connect.14.3. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in James Ward WP Mail Catcher.1.6. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Eyal Fitoussi GEO my WordPress.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in DAEV.Tech WP Migration Plugin DB & Files - WP Synchro.11.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in MultiParcels MultiParcels Shipping For WooCommerce.16.9. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in ChurchThemes Church Content - Sermons, Events and More.6. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Nose Graze Novelist.2.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Michael Bester Kimili Flash Embed.5.3. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Tonjoo Sangar Slider.3.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in andy_moyle Church Admin church-admin.0.27. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Supsystic Digital Publications by Supsystic.7.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in SeedProd Coming Soon Page, Under Construction & Maintenance Mode by SeedProd.15.20. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in AitThemes Citadela Listing.20.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Gold Plugins Before And After.9. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in typps Calendarista Basic Edition calendarista-basic-edition.0.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in CodePeople CP Media Player.1.3. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in WP EasyCart.5.19. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in wpWax Legal Pages.4.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in MagePeople Team WpTravelly.6.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in MagniGenie RestroPress.1.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in VideoYield.Com Ads.Txt Admin.Txt Admin: from n/a through 1.3. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in AWP Classifieds Team AWP Classifieds.3.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in WP Swings Wallet System for WooCommerce.5.9. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Saleswonder Team: Tobias WebinarIgnition webinar-ignition.05.8. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in IP2Location Download IP2Location Country Blocker.34.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Zoho Campaigns.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Zoho Campaigns.0.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Thomas Belser Asgaros Forum.8.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in SwitchWP WP Client Reports.0.22. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in cleverplugins.Com SEO Booster.8.9. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Kamlesh Parmar Sync Post With Other Site sync-post-with-other-site allows Cross Site Request Forgery.9.1. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Kaloyan K. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Venugopal Change default login logo,url and title allows Cross-Site Scripting (XSS).0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Nick Powers Social Author Bio allows Stored XSS.4. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Simple Buttons Creator WordPress plugin through 1.04 does not have CSRF checks in some places, which could allow attackers to make logged in users perform unwanted actions via CSRF attacks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The Simple Buttons Creator WordPress plugin through 1.04 does not have any authorisation as well as CSRF in its add button function, allowing unauthenticated users to call them either directly or via. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The Advanced Search WordPress plugin through 1.1.6 does not have CSRF checks in some places, which could allow attackers to make logged in users perform unwanted actions via CSRF attacks. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The NPS computy WordPress plugin through 2.7.5 does not have CSRF checks in some places, which could allow attackers to make logged in users perform unwanted actions via CSRF attacks. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The Smart Forms WordPress plugin before 2.6.94 does not have CSRF checks in some places, which could allow attackers to make logged-in users perform unwanted actions via CSRF attacks, such as editing. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in ELEXtensions ELEX WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing and Discounts.1.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in LifterLMS.5.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Metagauss ProfileGrid.7.8. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Coded Commerce, LLC Benchmark Email Lite.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Tribulant Slideshow Gallery.7.8. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in rtCamp Transcoder.3.5. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Fetch Designs Sign-up Sheets sign-up-sheets.2.11.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Themeisle Multiple Page Generator Plugin - MPG.4.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Easy Digital Downloads.2.6. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Elementor Hello Elementor.0.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Catch Plugins Generate Child Theme.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Repute InfoSystems ARForms Form Builder.6.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Supsystic Ultimate Maps by Supsystic.2.16. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Supsystic Easy Google Maps.11.11. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Quick Facts
- Typical Severity
- MEDIUM
- Category
- web
- Total CVEs
- 8761