CVE-2025-64368 identifies a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Bard plugin developed by Mikado-Themes, affecting all versions up to and including 1.6. CSRF vulnerabilities occur when a web application does not adequately verify that requests made to it originate from legitimate users, allowing attackers to craft malicious web requests that, when executed by authenticated users, perform unintended actions on their behalf. In this case, the Bard plugin lacks sufficient anti-CSRF protections, such as tokens or origin checks, enabling attackers to exploit this weakness by enticing users to visit malicious sites or click crafted links. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.4 reflects a medium severity, with an attack vector of network (remote), low attack complexity, no privileges required, but requiring user interaction. The impact affects confidentiality and integrity to a limited extent, as unauthorized actions could expose or modify user data but do not affect system availability. No known exploits have been reported in the wild, and no patches have been officially released at the time of this report. The vulnerability primarily threatens WordPress sites using the Bard plugin, which is popular for content creation and theme management. Attackers could leverage this flaw to perform unauthorized configuration changes, content modifications, or other actions permitted by the user's role, potentially leading to data leakage or site defacement. The absence of authentication requirements for the attacker and the reliance on user interaction emphasize the need for user awareness and technical safeguards. The vulnerability highlights the importance of implementing standard CSRF mitigations in WordPress plugins, including nonce verification, strict request method enforcement, and origin header validation.

For European organizations, the CSRF vulnerability in Bard poses a moderate risk, particularly for entities relying on WordPress-based websites for content management, e-commerce, or customer engagement. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized changes in website content, exposure of sensitive user data, or manipulation of site configurations, undermining trust and potentially causing reputational damage. While the vulnerability does not directly impact system availability, the integrity and confidentiality of data could be compromised. Organizations in sectors such as media, retail, education, and public services that use Bard for website management are at risk. Given the medium severity and the requirement for user interaction, the threat is more pronounced in environments with high user traffic and less technical user bases. Additionally, the lack of an official patch increases the window of exposure. Attackers could use social engineering to trick users into executing malicious requests, which may facilitate further attacks or data breaches. The impact is compounded in multi-user environments where users have elevated privileges, as unauthorized actions could propagate wider damage. European data protection regulations, such as GDPR, may impose compliance risks if personal data is exposed or altered due to exploitation of this vulnerability.

To mitigate the risk posed by CVE-2025-64368, European organizations should implement several specific measures beyond generic advice: 1) Immediately audit WordPress sites using the Bard plugin to identify affected versions and restrict administrative access where possible. 2) Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules designed to detect and block CSRF attack patterns targeting Bard plugin endpoints. 3) Implement strict Content Security Policies (CSP) to reduce the risk of malicious cross-origin requests. 4) Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all users with elevated privileges to reduce the impact of compromised sessions. 5) Educate users about the risks of clicking untrusted links or visiting suspicious websites to minimize user interaction exploitation. 6) Monitor web server and application logs for unusual POST requests or changes in site content indicative of CSRF exploitation attempts. 7) Where possible, apply manual code-level mitigations by adding nonce verification or origin header checks to Bard plugin forms and AJAX handlers until an official patch is released. 8) Maintain regular backups of website data and configurations to enable rapid recovery if unauthorized changes occur. 9) Engage with Mikado-Themes or the WordPress security community to track patch releases and apply updates promptly. 10) Consider isolating critical WordPress instances or running them in sandboxed environments to limit the blast radius of potential attacks.