CVE-2023-48769

Chat Bubble <= 2.3 - Cross-Site Request Forgery via cbb_submit_settings_data

2023-11-28 00:00
R3N0

Strategic Overview

At a glance

CVE-2023-48769 is a medium-severity Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Chat Bubble WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.3. It carries a CVSS score of 6.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high integrity impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed November 2023, reported by R3N0.

Vulnerability Overview

The Chat Bubble plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in versions up to, and including, 2.3. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the cbb_submit_settings_data function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to modify the plugin's settings via a forged request granted they can trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no privileges on the target site. A successful exploit has high impact on integrity.

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

Reaching this weakness in Chat Bubble <= 2.3 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Cross-site request forgery abuses the fact that browsers attach a victim's cookies to any request, so a state-changing action that only checks who you are, not whether you meant to act, can be triggered from another site.

An attacker who gets a logged-in user to load a crafted page can perform that action as them, with the impact scaling to whatever the victim's role is allowed to do. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for Chat Bubble yet, so installs running <= 2.3 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.

Remediation

No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Chat Bubble: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

Related records

Other vulnerabilities in Chat Bubble – Floating Chat with Contact Chat Icons, Messages, Telegram, Email, SMS, Call me back

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