CVE-2025-13140 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability identified in the SurveyJS: Drag & Drop WordPress Form Builder plugin, versions up to and including 1.12.20. The root cause is the absence of nonce validation on the AJAX action SurveyJS_DeleteSurvey, which is responsible for deleting surveys. Nonces in WordPress are security tokens used to verify that requests are intentional and originate from authenticated users. Without nonce validation, an attacker can craft a malicious request that, if executed by an authenticated administrator (e.g., by clicking a link), will delete surveys without their consent. This vulnerability does not require the attacker to be authenticated, but it does require user interaction from an administrator, making social engineering a key exploitation vector. The impact is limited to the integrity of survey data, as attackers can delete surveys, potentially disrupting data collection and analysis. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 4.3, reflecting its medium severity due to the lack of confidentiality or availability impact and the need for user interaction. No patches or exploits are currently documented, but the issue is publicly disclosed and should be addressed promptly to prevent abuse. The plugin is used in WordPress environments to create and manage complex forms, making it a valuable target for attackers seeking to disrupt organizational data workflows.

For European organizations, the primary impact of this vulnerability is the potential loss or tampering of survey data, which could affect decision-making processes, customer feedback analysis, and internal data collection efforts. Organizations relying on SurveyJS forms for critical business functions may experience operational disruption if surveys are deleted maliciously. While the vulnerability does not expose sensitive data directly, the integrity loss could undermine trust in data-driven processes. Additionally, successful exploitation could be part of a broader attack chain, where attackers use survey deletion as a distraction or to degrade service quality. The requirement for administrator interaction means that organizations with less rigorous security awareness training may be more vulnerable. Given the widespread use of WordPress in Europe, especially in sectors like education, public administration, and SMEs, the risk is non-trivial. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers often develop exploits after public disclosure.

To mitigate this vulnerability, organizations should first verify if they are using the affected versions of the SurveyJS plugin and update to a patched version once available. In the absence of an official patch, administrators or developers should implement nonce validation on the SurveyJS_DeleteSurvey AJAX action to ensure requests are legitimate. This involves adding WordPress nonce checks in the server-side code handling the AJAX request. Additionally, organizations should enhance administrator security awareness training to recognize and avoid phishing and social engineering attempts that could lead to clicking malicious links. Employing web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules to detect and block suspicious AJAX requests targeting the SurveyJS_DeleteSurvey action can provide an additional layer of defense. Regular backups of survey data should be maintained to enable recovery in case of deletion. Monitoring logs for unusual deletion activity can help detect exploitation attempts early. Finally, limiting administrative privileges to only necessary personnel reduces the attack surface.