Wp Forms Puzzle CaptchaWordPress extension · Nitinrathod
CVE-2023-44997
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 · uneditedCross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Nitin Rathod WP Forms Puzzle Captcha plugin <= 4.1 versions.
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 confidenceCross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the WP Forms Puzzle Captcha plugin allows attackers to potentially force authenticated users to perform unintended actions by tricking them into visiting malicious pages while logged in. This occurs due to missing or improper anti-CSRF token validation on form submissions within the plugin.
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
Wp Forms Puzzle CaptchaWordPress extension
<= 4.1CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Check if WP Forms Puzzle Captcha plugin is installedLog in to WordPress admin panel, navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins, and search for 'WP Forms Puzzle Captcha' or 'Nithinrathod Wp Forms Puzzle Captcha' in the plugin listAffected if Plugin is installed and active
-
Identify the installed plugin versionIn the Plugins list, click on the plugin name or view details to find the version number displayedAffected if Version is 4.1 or lower
-
Inspect form submission handlers for nonce validationAccess the plugin files via FTP or file manager (typically in wp-content/plugins/wp-forms-puzzle-captcha), locate form handling files (often in includes/ or src/ folders), and search for 'nonce' or 'wp_verify_nonce' in the code handling form submissionsAffected if Form submission handlers do not contain nonce verification (wp_verify_nonce or wp_create_nonce calls are missing)
-
Verify admin action hooks lack CSRF protectionExamine the plugin's main PHP file for registered admin action hooks (add_action) handling form submissions. Check if these hooks include nonce validation before processing state-changing requestsAffected if Admin action hooks process requests without checking nonces or referer validation
User is affected if the plugin is installed with version 4.1 or lower AND the form submission handlers lack nonce token validation
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpdate the plugin to the latest version which should include proper anti-CSRF token validation. Additionally, implement anti-CSRF tokens (nonce validation) on all state-changing form actions and ensure proper referer validation.
latest version (any release after 4.1)
- Update the WP Forms Puzzle Captcha plugin to the latest available version from the WordPress plugin repository
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Wp Forms Puzzle Captcha
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-44997 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-44997 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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