Contextual Related Posts <= 3.3.1 - Cross-Site Request Forgery in crpClearCache

2023-02-20 00:00
Anonymous

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.3.2
Affected Plugin
Contextual Related Posts
Affected Version
<= 3.3.1
CVSS
4.3Medium
Weakness type
CWE-352 · Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
CVE
CVE pending
View all Contextual Related Posts vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a medium-severity Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Contextual Related Posts WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.3.1. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 3.3.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed February 2023.

Vulnerability Overview

The Contextual Related Posts plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in versions up to, and including, 3.3.1. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the crpClearCache function triggered via the crp_clear_cache AJAX action. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to clear the Contextual Related Posts cache 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.

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

Reaching this weakness in Contextual Related Posts <= 3.3.1 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. For Contextual Related Posts the fix is 3.3.2: builds <= 3.3.1 are affected, anything from 3.3.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.3.2, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Contextual Related Posts: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Contextual Related Posts 3.3.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/ca8f4f6b-756b-4511-9e48-e41a872a9dad

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