CVE-2025-23972 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability identified in the Brian S. Reed Contact Form 7 reCAPTCHA plugin, affecting versions up to 1.2.0. CSRF vulnerabilities allow an attacker to trick an authenticated user into submitting unwanted actions on a web application in which they are currently authenticated, without their consent or knowledge. In this case, the vulnerability lies within the Contact Form 7 reCAPTCHA integration, a popular WordPress plugin used to add CAPTCHA verification to contact forms to prevent spam and automated submissions. The flaw enables attackers to craft malicious web requests that, when visited by an authenticated user, can cause unintended changes or actions related to the reCAPTCHA settings or form submissions. According to the CVSS v3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N), the attack can be launched remotely over the network without any privileges or authentication, but requires user interaction (the victim must visit a malicious link or page). The vulnerability impacts the integrity of the affected system by allowing unauthorized modification of data or settings, but does not affect confidentiality or availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet. The vulnerability was reserved in January 2025 and published in July 2025. Given the widespread use of Contact Form 7 and its reCAPTCHA add-ons in WordPress sites globally, this vulnerability could be leveraged to manipulate form behavior or settings, potentially facilitating further attacks such as spam bypass or unauthorized form submissions.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a moderate risk primarily to websites using WordPress with the Contact Form 7 reCAPTCHA plugin. Many small to medium enterprises, NGOs, and public sector entities in Europe rely on WordPress for their web presence, often using Contact Form 7 for customer or citizen interaction. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized changes in form configurations, enabling attackers to bypass spam protections or inject malicious content via forms. This could degrade user trust, lead to data integrity issues, or facilitate phishing or social engineering campaigns. While the vulnerability does not directly compromise sensitive data confidentiality or availability, the integrity impact could cascade into reputational damage or indirect data exposure if attackers manipulate form submissions. The requirement for user interaction limits large-scale automated exploitation but targeted attacks against high-value organizations or government websites remain a concern. Additionally, the lack of a patch at the time of disclosure increases the window of exposure. Organizations in Europe with high reliance on WordPress contact forms should assess their exposure and monitor for updates.

1. Immediate mitigation involves disabling or removing the Contact Form 7 reCAPTCHA plugin until a security patch is released. 2. Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious CSRF attempts targeting form endpoints. 3. Enforce strict SameSite cookie attributes and verify anti-CSRF tokens on form submissions to prevent unauthorized requests. 4. Educate users and administrators about the risks of clicking unknown links to reduce the likelihood of user interaction exploitation. 5. Monitor web server logs for unusual POST requests or changes to form configurations that could indicate exploitation attempts. 6. Once a patch is available, apply it promptly and verify the integrity of form settings. 7. Consider alternative CAPTCHA solutions with proven security track records if the plugin remains unpatched for extended periods. 8. Conduct regular security audits of WordPress plugins and dependencies to identify and remediate vulnerabilities proactively.