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Diversified Tech Solutions Diversified Tech Solutions Technology · Security · Compliance

What Is Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)?

Definition

Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) tricks a logged-in user's browser into sending a request they never meant to send. OWASP defines it as "an attack that forces an end user to execute unwanted actions on a web application in which they're currently authenticated." Against an administrator, that can mean changed settings, new users, or worse.

How It Works

Browsers automatically attach your login cookies to requests sent to a site you are signed in to, even when another page triggered the request. CSRF abuses that habit:

  1. An admin is logged in to the WordPress dashboard or a business app in one tab.
  2. They open a link from an email or chat, or visit a page the attacker controls.
  3. That page quietly submits a form or loads a URL on the admin's site, such as "change this setting" or "create this user."
  4. The site sees a valid session cookie and carries out the action.

The attacker never sees the response and never learns the password. They do not need to. OWASP notes that against an administrator, CSRF "can compromise the entire web application," and that it usually comes "with a little help of social engineering (such as sending a link via email or chat)."

The defense is to make every state-changing request carry something the attacker's page cannot know or forge. Common methods include anti-CSRF tokens tied to the user's session, which WordPress implements as nonces, plus SameSite cookie settings and checks on where a request came from. Actions that change data should never run from a simple link click.

Real-World Example

PaperCut NG and MF, print management software common in schools and offices, had a CSRF flaw (CVE-2023-2533) that, in the vendor's words, "under specific conditions, could potentially enable an attacker to alter security settings or execute arbitrary code." It required "deceiving an admin into clicking a specially crafted malicious link" while logged in. PaperCut fixed it in version 22.1.1 in 2023. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on July 28, 2025, meaning it had been used in real attacks.

Why It Matters for a Small Business

Small teams often have one person who is admin on the website, the print server, the router, and the firewall, and that person reads email all day while logged in. CSRF turns one click on the wrong link into a configuration change nobody approved. Because the request comes from a real admin session, logs may show the admin doing it, which slows down investigation. The fix is usually an update the vendor has already released, so the real risk is the patch that has not been installed yet.

How to Spot It / How DTS Handles It

Warning signs: settings or users that changed with no matching ticket, plugin and device advisories that mention "CSRF" and have not been patched, admins browsing and reading email in the same session they use for administration, and management pages reachable from the internet.

DTS patches plugins, apps, and devices with CSRF fixes, keeps admin consoles off the public internet where possible, and separates admin sessions from everyday browsing. See our WordPress maintenance service, or our managed IT service for office systems.

Related Terms

Sources

  • OWASP, Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF): https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/csrf
  • PaperCut, PaperCut NG/MF Security Bulletin (June 2023): https://www.papercut.com/kb/Main/SecurityBulletinJune2023
  • CISA, Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (CVE-2023-2533 added July 28, 2025): https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-2533

Last updated October 14, 2026.