dbcve.org
Google FormsWordPress extension · Google Forms Project

CVE-2018-20988

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-08-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 0.94 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The wpgform plugin before 0.94 for WordPress has eval injection in the CAPTCHA calculation.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The wpgform WordPress plugin before version 0.94 contains an eval injection vulnerability in its CAPTCHA calculation function. User-supplied input from the CAPTCHA form field is passed to PHP's eval() function without proper sanitization, allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary PHP code.

MitigationUpdate the wpgform plugin to version 0.94 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, disable the plugin until the update can be applied.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Google FormsWordPress extension
Affected:< 0.94

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify wpgform plugin is installed
    Navigate to WordPress admin dashboard under Plugins > Installed Plugins, or inspect the wp-content/plugins/ directory for a folder named wpgform or google-forms-project-google-forms
    Affected if The wpgform plugin appears in the installed plugins list
  2. Check installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin, view the plugin details to see the version number, or open the main plugin PHP file and locate the 'Version' header in the plugin comment block
    Affected if The reported version is lower than 0.94 (e.g., 0.93, 0.92, etc.)
  3. Confirm CAPTCHA functionality is in use
    Check plugin settings pages for CAPTCHA configuration, or inspect page templates where the plugin's CAPTCHA form field is rendered
    Affected if The CAPTCHA feature is enabled and the form field is present on any site page or form
  4. Identify the vulnerable function
    Review the plugin source code for the CAPTCHA calculation function that processes user input, typically involving eval()
    Affected if The plugin code contains an eval() call that processes CAPTCHA form input without sanitization

You are affected if the wpgform plugin is installed with a version below 0.94 and the CAPTCHA feature is enabled, allowing the eval injection to be triggered via the CAPTCHA form field.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 0.94 or later
Fixed in 0.94
Interim mitigation

Update the wpgform plugin to version 0.94 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, disable the plugin until the update can be applied.

Fix this in Google Forms Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-20988 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data