CVE-2025-48243: reCAPTCHA for all CSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2025-48243 Overview

CVE-2025-48243 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability [CWE-352] affecting the reCAPTCHA for all WordPress plugin developed by sminozzi. The flaw impacts all versions up to and including 2.26. An attacker can trick an authenticated administrator into submitting a forged request that modifies plugin state without consent.

The vulnerability requires user interaction, such as clicking a crafted link or visiting a malicious page. Successful exploitation can alter plugin configuration, weakening protections that the plugin is intended to provide.

Critical Impact
Attackers can leverage an authenticated administrator's session to modify reCAPTCHA for all plugin settings on WordPress sites, potentially disabling anti-bot protections without the administrator's awareness.

Affected Products

reCAPTCHA for all WordPress plugin (recaptcha-for-all) by sminozzi
All versions up to and including 2.26
WordPress installations that expose the plugin's administrative endpoints

Discovery Timeline

2025-05-19 - CVE-2025-48243 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-48243

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from the plugin's failure to validate the origin of state-changing HTTP requests. WordPress plugins are expected to use nonces via wp_nonce_field() and check_admin_referer() to prevent forged requests. The reCAPTCHA for all plugin does not enforce these checks on affected actions up to version 2.26.

An attacker crafts a malicious webpage or link containing a request targeting the vulnerable endpoint. When an authenticated administrator visits the attacker-controlled resource, the browser automatically sends session cookies with the forged request. The plugin processes the request as legitimate.

The impact is limited to integrity of plugin configuration. Confidentiality and availability are not directly affected, and the attack requires user interaction from a privileged user.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or insufficient CSRF token validation on state-changing operations exposed by the plugin. Without a unique, per-session token tied to each sensitive action, the server cannot distinguish between a legitimate administrator submission and a cross-origin forgery.

Attack Vector

Exploitation occurs over the network and requires a victim with an active authenticated session to the WordPress admin interface. The attacker delivers the payload through social engineering vectors such as phishing emails, malicious advertisements, or comment links on unrelated sites.

Because no code examples have been published for this issue, refer to the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Report for advisory details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-48243

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected modifications to reCAPTCHA for all plugin settings in the WordPress database, particularly in wp_options entries tied to the plugin
Administrator sessions generating POST requests to plugin endpoints with Referer headers pointing to external or unknown origins
Sudden loss of reCAPTCHA challenges on forms previously protected by the plugin

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server access logs for POST requests to wp-admin endpoints associated with recaptcha-for-all that lack a matching same-origin Referer header
Audit WordPress activity logs for administrative setting changes without a corresponding user-initiated admin session
Compare plugin configuration against a known-good baseline on a scheduled basis

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable a WordPress audit logging plugin to capture setting changes with user, timestamp, and source IP context
Alert on administrator account activity originating from unusual IP addresses or geolocations
Monitor for external referrers on authenticated admin POST requests via a web application firewall

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-48243

Immediate Actions Required

Update the reCAPTCHA for all plugin to a version later than 2.26 once the vendor publishes a fix
If no patched version is available, deactivate and remove the plugin from affected WordPress installations
Force administrator password resets and invalidate active sessions if configuration tampering is suspected

Patch Information

At the time of publication, the advisory lists affected versions from n/a through <= 2.26. Consult the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Report for the latest fix status and update guidance.

Workarounds

Deploy a web application firewall rule that blocks state-changing requests to plugin endpoints lacking a same-origin Referer or valid WordPress nonce parameter
Restrict WordPress admin access using IP allow-listing at the web server or firewall layer
Train administrators to avoid clicking untrusted links while authenticated to the WordPress admin console

bash

# Example nginx rule restricting wp-admin access by source IP
location ^~ /wp-admin/ {
    allow 203.0.113.0/24;
    deny all;
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
}