# CVE-2012-1936: Cross-site request forgery in n/a

> Remote attackers can perform CSRF attacks by sniffing network traffic to exploit nonce generation flaws in WordPress.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 3 May 2012
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-3hph-x32p-p2q9

## What is CVE-2012-1936?

CVE-2012-1936 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Wordpress Wordpress, published on 3 May 2012. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

The wp_create_nonce function in wp-includes/pluggable.php in WordPress 3.3.1 and earlier associates a nonce with a user account instead of a user session, which might make it easier for remote attackers to conduct cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks on specific actions and objects by sniffing the network, as demonstrated by attacks against the wp-admin/admin-ajax.php and wp-admin/user-new.php scripts.  NOTE: the vendor reportedly disputes the significance of this issue because wp_create_nonce operates as intended, even if it is arguably inconsistent with certain CSRF protection details advocated by external organizations

Weakness: CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-1936?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Wordpress Wordpress.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-1936?

No fix has been published for CVE-2012-1936 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2012-1936 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-1936 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- WordPress Core 3.3.1 - Multiple Cross-Site Request Forgery Vulnerabilities (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Wordpress Wordpress

- [CVE-2026-63030](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-63030/): WordPress Core Interpretation Conflict (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-87902](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-87902/): WordPress Core Remote File Inclusion (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-60137](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-60137/): WordPress Core SQL Injection (medium 5.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2012-2399](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2399/): Cross-site scripting in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2012-2400](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2400/): Other in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-1936 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-1936 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Wordpress Wordpress, published on 3 May 2012. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-1936 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Wordpress Wordpress. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1936/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1936/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-1936
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-1936
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-1936

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1936/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.