CVE-2023-39925: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) Vulnerability Discovered in PeepSo Download Community by PeepSo Plugin <= 6.1.6. Versions

A new vulnerability, assigned the identifier CVE-2023-39925, has been discovered in the popular PeepSo Download Community plugin by the PeepSo team. This security vulnerability affects versions of the plugin up to and including 6.1.6.. The vulnerability is classified as a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attack, and if exploited, it can potentially allow an attacker to perform unauthorized actions on the targeted website without the victim's knowledge or consent.

In this post, we will discuss the details of this vulnerability, provide a code snippet to better understand the exploit, and link to the original references for further information.

Exploit Details

A CSRF vulnerability occurs when a malicious actor can trick a victim into unintentionally issuing a request to a target website while they are authenticated. This exploit takes advantage of the trust that a website has for a user's web browser and can lead to unauthorized actions being taken on behalf of the victim.

In the case of CVE-2023-39925, the vulnerability was discovered in the PeepSo Download Community plugin, which is a popular plugin for creating WordPress-based social networking sites. The plugin's code allows an attacker to perform actions such as changing the plugin's settings or deleting files without the website administrator's consent.

Below is a code snippet demonstrating the vulnerability in the PeepSo Download Community plugin

<form action="https://target-website.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"; method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
    <input type="hidden" name="action" value="peepso-update-settings">
    <input type="hidden" name="_w_peepso" value="12345"> <!-- The CSRF token should be here -->
    <input type="hidden" name="settings[site_backend_delete-attachments-danger-area]" value="1">

    <input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>

As seen in the code above, the form should have included a CSRF token to verify the authenticity of the request. However, due to the lack of CSRF token verification, an attacker can easily create a phishing page with a similar form to trick the victim into unknowingly submitting the form, thus executing unwanted actions on the target website.

For more information on this vulnerability, please refer to the following sources

- CVE-2023-39925 (NVD - National Vulnerability Database)
- PeepSo Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Repository
- MITRE CVE Dictionary Entry for CVE-2023-39925

Conclusion and Mitigation

The discovery of this CSRF vulnerability in the PeepSo Download Community plugin (versions <= 6.1.6.) highlights the importance of implementing proper security practices in web applications, including ensuring that cryptography tokens, such as CSRF tokens, are used to verify the authenticity of requests.

The PeepSo team has acknowledged this vulnerability and published a security blog post detailing the issue. If you use the PeepSo Download Community plugin, it is essential to update your plugin to the latest version (6.1.6.1 or higher) as soon as possible to mitigate this risk.

In addition to updating the plugin, website administrators should always ensure that they educate their users on the risks associated with phishing scams and encourage them to report any suspicious emails or links.

By staying informed about the latest cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities and taking preventative actions, you can help protect your website and its users from potential security breaches.

Timeline

Published on: 11/22/2023 19:15:08 UTC
Last modified on: 11/27/2023 21:37:20 UTC