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 (8774)
SAP Fiori 1.0 for SAP ERP HCM (Approve Leave Request, version 2) application allows an attacker to trick an authenticated user to send unintended request to the web server. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Hosted Collaboration Mediation Fulfillment could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site request forgery. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Tetration Analytics could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attack and perform. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Industrial Network Director could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attack and. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Packaged Contact Center Enterprise could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a CSRF attack and perform arbitrary. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Packaged Contact Center Enterprise could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a stored XSS attack against a user of the. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Meeting Server could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attack and perform. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
rars/user/data in razorCMS 3.4.8 allows CSRF for changing the password of an admin user. 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.
A potential security vulnerability has been identified with certain HP printers and MFPs in 2405129_000052 and other firmware versions. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
DASAN H660GW devices do not implement any CSRF protection mechanism. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The web interface in TP-Link TL-WRN841N 0.9.1 4.16 v0348.0 is vulnerable to CSRF due to insufficient validation of the referer field. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
HisiPHP 1.0.8 allows CSRF via admin.php/admin/user/adduser.html to add an administrator account. 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.
RSA Authentication Manager versions prior to 8.3 P3 contain a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability in a Security Console page. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
A Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Trend Micro Deep Discovery Inspector 3.85 and below could allow an attacker to bypass CSRF protection and conduct an attack on vulnerable. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
e107 2.1.9 allows CSRF via e107_admin/wmessage.php?mode=&action=inline&ajax_used=1&id= for changing the title of an arbitrary page. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Philips e-Alert Unit (non-medical device), Version R2.1 and prior. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in MCMS 4.6.5. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A CSRF vulnerability in the Runtime Config component of Avaya Aura Orchestration Designer could allow an attacker to add, change, or remove administrative settings. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability could allow attackers to trick authenticated users into performing unintended actions.
A potential Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability has been identified in ArcSight Management Center (ArcMC) in all versions prior to 2.81. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Linksys Velop 1.1.2.187020 devices allow unauthenticated command injection, providing an attacker with full root access, via cgi-bin/zbtest.cgi or cgi-bin/zbtest2.cgi (scripts that can be discovered. 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 administrative smart-commits resource in Atlassian Fisheye and Crucible before version 4.5.4 allows remote attackers to modify smart-commit settings via a Cross-site request forgery (CSRF). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Oracle WebCenter Interaction Portal 10.3.3 does not implement protection against Cross-site Request Forgery in its design. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Microweber 1.0.7. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
An issue was discovered in GetSimple CMS v3.3.13. 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.
An issue was discovered in QuickAppsCMS (aka QACMS) through 2.0.0-beta2. 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.
An issue was discovered in UNL-CMS 7.59. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in UNL-CMS 7.59. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in CMS MaeloStore V.1.5.0. 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.
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability on ASUS GT-AC5300 routers with firmware through 3.0.0.4.384_32738 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests. 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.
xunfeng 0.2.0 allows command execution via CSRF because masscan.py mishandles backquote characters, a related issue to CVE-2018-16832. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
CSRF in the anti-csrf decorator in xunfeng 0.2.0 allows an attacker to modify the configuration via a Flash file because views/lib/AntiCSRF.py can overwrite the request.host value with the content of. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
\upload\plugins\sys\admin\Setting.php in CScms 4.1 allows CSRF via admin.php/setting/ftp_save. 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 WL-330NUL Firmware version prior to 3.0.0.46 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators via unspecified vectors. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
phpMyFAQ before 2.9.11 allows CSRF. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
KOHA Library System version 16.11.x (up until 16.11.13) and 17.05.x (up until 17.05.05) contains a Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in /cgi-bin/koha/members/paycollect.pl Parameters. 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.
MicroPyramid Django-CRM 0.2 allows CSRF for /users/create/, /users/##/edit/, and /accounts/##/delete/ URIs. 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.
An issue was discovered in BTITeam XBTIT. 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 newsfeed (aka /index.php?page=viewnews) in BTITeam XBTIT 2.5.4 has stored XSS via the title of a news item. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
VIVOTEK FD8177 devices before XXXXXX-VVTK-xx06a allow CSRF. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in baigo CMS v2.1.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
OneThink 1.1.141212 allows CSRF for adding a page via admin.php?s=/Channel/add.html, adding a blog via admin.php?s=/Article/update.html, and setting the audit state via. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Cscms 4 allows CSRF for creating a member via upload/admin.php/user/save, authenticating vip members via upload/admin.php/user/init/tid and upload/admin.php/user/init/rzid, and creating a super. 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.
Frog CMS 0.9.5 has admin/?/user/edit/1 CSRF. 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.
admin/admin/adminsave.html in YFCMF v3.0 allows CSRF to add an administrator account. 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.
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in my_profile/edit?inline= in FUEL CMS 1.4 allows remote attackers to change the administrator's password. 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.
An issue was discovered in Elefant CMS before 2.0.5. 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.
An issue was discovered in Ogma CMS 0.4 Beta. 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.
An issue was discovered in idreamsoft iCMS V7.0.10. 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.
An issue was discovered in idreamsoft iCMS V7.0.10. 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.
An issue was discovered in EasyCMS 1.5. 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.
An issue was discovered in EmpireCMS 7.0. 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.
An issue was discovered in AuraCMS 2.3. 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.
An issue was discovered in Cscms V4.1.8. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in iCMS 7.0.9. 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.
admin.php?s=/Admin/doedit in DamiCMS v6.0.0 allows CSRF to change the administrator account's password. 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.
In waimai Super Cms 20150505, there is a CSRF vulnerability that can change the configuration via admin.php?m=Config&a=add. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in admincp.php in idreamsoft iCMS 7.0.11. 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.
Xovis PC2, PC2R, and PC3 devices through 3.6.0 allow CSRF. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Auth0 auth0-aspnet and auth0-aspnet-owin. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
e107 2.1.8 has CSRF in 'usersettings.php' with an impact of changing details such as passwords of users including administrators. 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.
An issue was discovered in Flexo CMS v0.1.6. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in REDAXO CMS 4.7.2. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in portfolioCMS 1.0.5. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in portfolioCMS 1.0.5. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in fledrCMS through 2014-02-03. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
There is a CSRF vulnerability that can add an administrator account in Gleez CMS 1.2.0 via admin/users/add. 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.
An issue was discovered in DamiCMS 6.0.0. 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.
An issue was discovered in the Moderator Log Notes plugin 1.1 for MyBB. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Ansible Tower before versions 3.1.8 and 3.2.6 is vulnerable to cross-site request forgery (CSRF) in awx/api/authentication.py. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
my little forum 2.4.12 allows CSRF for deletion of users. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
tp5cms through 2017-05-25 has CSRF via admin.php/category/delete.html. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in daveismyname simple-cms through 2014-03-11. 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.
An issue was discovered in daveismyname simple-cms through 2014-03-11. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Pimcore before 5.3.0 allows remote attackers to conduct cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks by leveraging validation of the X-pimcore-csrf-token anti-CSRF token only in the "Settings > Users /. 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.
IBM API Connect's Developer Portal 5.0.0.0 through 5.0.8.3 is vulnerable to Server Side Request Forgery. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
IBM Tivoli Application Dependency Discovery Manager 7.2.2 and 7.3 is vulnerable to cross-site request forgery which could allow an attacker to execute malicious and unauthorized actions transmitted. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The acceptAnswer resource in Atlassian Confluence Questions before version 2.6.6, the bundled version of Confluence Questions was updated to a fixed version in Confluence version 6.9.0, allows remote. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The convertCommentToAnswer resource in Atlassian Confluence Questions before version 2.6.6, the bundled version of Confluence Questions was updated to a fixed version in Confluence version 6.9.0,. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence, versions 4.0, 4.1 and 4.2, while viewing a Web Intelligence report from BI Launchpad, the user session details captured by an HTTP analysis tool could be. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A security vulnerability was identified in 3PAR Service Processor (SP) prior to SP-4.4.0.GA-110(MU7). Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NetComm Wireless G LTE Light Industrial M2M Router (NWL-25) with firmware 2.0.29.11 and prior. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
PHP Scripts Mall advanced-real-estate-script 4.0.9 has CSRF via edit-profile.php. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
PHP Scripts Mall Chartered Accountant : Auditor Website 2.0.1 has CSRF via client/auditor/updprofile.php. 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.
An issue was discovered in Ignited CMS through 2017-02-19. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Juunan06 eCommerce through 2018-08-05. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in OneThink v1.1. 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.
An issue was discovered in OneThink v1.1. 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.
A CSRF vulnerability in the admin panel in Gogs through 0.11.53 allows remote attackers to execute admin operations via a crafted issue / link. 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.
In Gxlcms 2.0, a news/index.php?s=Admin-Admin-Insert CSRF attack can add an administrator account. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Aruba ClearPass 6.6.x prior to 6.6.9 and 6.7.x prior to 6.7.1 is vulnerable to CSRF attacks against authenticated users. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Quick Facts
- Typical Severity
- MEDIUM
- Category
- web
- Total CVEs
- 8774