The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-67626 affects the Angel Costa WP SEO Search plugin for WordPress, specifically versions up to 1.1. It is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) flaw, which means an attacker can craft malicious web requests that, when executed by an authenticated user, cause unintended actions within the plugin. CSRF attacks exploit the trust a web application places in the user's browser, allowing unauthorized commands to be transmitted without the user's explicit consent. In this case, the vulnerability does not require the attacker to have any privileges or prior authentication, but the victim must be logged into the WordPress site with sufficient permissions to perform the targeted actions. The CVSS score of 4.3 reflects a medium severity, with the vector indicating network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), but requiring user interaction (UI:R). The impact is limited to integrity, with no direct confidentiality or availability effects. The plugin's functionality related to SEO search could be manipulated, potentially altering site behavior or SEO configurations maliciously. No known exploits have been reported in the wild, and no official patches have been published as of the vulnerability disclosure date. The vulnerability was reserved in December 2025 and published in January 2026. The lack of CWE classification and patch links suggests this is a newly disclosed issue requiring attention from site administrators and developers.

For European organizations, the primary impact of this vulnerability lies in the potential unauthorized modification of SEO-related settings or data within WordPress sites using the affected plugin. This could degrade website integrity, affect search engine rankings, or introduce malicious redirects or content changes that harm brand reputation. While confidentiality and availability are not directly impacted, the integrity compromise can lead to indirect consequences such as loss of customer trust, regulatory scrutiny under GDPR if user data or site trustworthiness is affected, and potential financial losses from decreased web traffic. Organizations heavily reliant on WordPress for their digital presence, especially those in competitive markets or with significant online marketing operations, face higher risks. The requirement for user interaction means phishing or social engineering could be used to trigger the exploit, increasing the attack surface. Since no known exploits are in the wild, the immediate risk is moderate, but the vulnerability should be addressed promptly to prevent future exploitation.

To mitigate this CSRF vulnerability, European organizations should first verify if they are using the Angel Costa WP SEO Search plugin version 1.1 or earlier and plan immediate updates once patches are available. In the absence of official patches, administrators can implement manual CSRF protections by adding nonce verification tokens to all plugin forms and AJAX requests to ensure requests originate from legitimate users. Restricting plugin access to trusted administrators only and enforcing strong authentication measures (e.g., multi-factor authentication) reduces the risk of exploitation. Monitoring web server logs and WordPress activity logs for unusual POST requests or changes in SEO settings can help detect attempted attacks. Additionally, educating users about phishing risks and avoiding clicking on suspicious links can reduce the likelihood of successful CSRF attacks. Employing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules to detect and block CSRF patterns can provide an additional layer of defense. Finally, organizations should maintain regular backups of their WordPress sites to enable quick restoration if unauthorized changes occur.