CVE-2025-13205 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability identified in the SurveyJS: Drag & Drop Form Builder plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 1.12.20. The vulnerability stems from missing or incorrect nonce validation on the AJAX action 'SurveyJS_CloneSurvey', which is responsible for duplicating surveys. Nonce tokens in WordPress are security measures designed to verify that requests originate from legitimate users and not from malicious third parties. The absence or improper implementation of nonce validation allows an attacker to craft a malicious request that, when executed by an authenticated administrator (typically via clicking a specially crafted link), results in unauthorized duplication of surveys. This attack vector requires no prior authentication by the attacker but does require user interaction from a privileged user, making it a classic CSRF scenario. The impact is limited to integrity, as attackers can manipulate survey data by duplicating surveys without authorization. There is no direct impact on confidentiality or availability. The CVSS v3.1 score is 4.3 (medium), reflecting the low complexity of the attack but the requirement for user interaction and limited impact scope. No patches or official fixes have been linked yet, and no known exploits have been reported in the wild. The vulnerability affects the WordPress plugin ecosystem, which is widely used across Europe, particularly in small to medium enterprises and public sector organizations that rely on WordPress for content management and survey collection.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-13205 lies in the potential unauthorized manipulation of survey data through duplication. While this does not directly compromise sensitive information or disrupt service availability, it can undermine data integrity and trustworthiness of survey results, which may be critical for decision-making processes, compliance reporting, or customer feedback analysis. Organizations relying on SurveyJS for collecting user input or feedback may face operational inefficiencies or reputational damage if attackers exploit this vulnerability to create misleading or redundant survey entries. Additionally, the attack requires tricking an administrator, which could be leveraged as part of a broader social engineering campaign targeting administrative users. This risk is heightened in sectors with high regulatory scrutiny or where survey data influences business or governmental decisions. The vulnerability's medium severity suggests it is not an immediate critical threat but should be addressed promptly to prevent potential exploitation.

To mitigate CVE-2025-13205, organizations should first monitor for and apply any official patches or updates released by devsoftbaltic addressing nonce validation in the SurveyJS plugin. In the absence of patches, administrators can implement custom nonce verification on the 'SurveyJS_CloneSurvey' AJAX action by modifying plugin code or using WordPress hooks to enforce proper nonce checks. Additionally, organizations should restrict administrative access to trusted networks or VPNs to reduce exposure. User education is critical: administrators must be trained to recognize phishing attempts and avoid clicking suspicious links, especially those received via email or messaging platforms. Implementing Content Security Policy (CSP) headers and SameSite cookies can also help reduce CSRF risks by limiting cross-origin request capabilities. Regular audits of installed plugins and their versions should be conducted to identify vulnerable components. Finally, consider deploying Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious AJAX requests targeting the vulnerable action.