Duplicate Post <= 1.4.1 - Cross-Site Request Forgery via 'cdp_action_handling' AJAX action

2023-08-03 00:00
Anonymous

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.4.2
Affected Plugin
Duplicate Post
Affected Version
<= 1.4.1
CVSS
6.3Medium
Weakness type
CWE-352 · Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
CVE
CVE pending
View all Duplicate Post vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a medium-severity Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Duplicate Post WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.4.1. It carries a CVSS score of 6.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.4.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2023.

Vulnerability Overview

The Duplicate Post plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in versions up to, and including, 1.4.1. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the 'cdp_action_handling' AJAX action. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to change plugin settings, duplicate posts, and make use of other restricted functionalities 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)

Duplicate Post <= 1.4.1 carries this weakness at cdp_action_handling, and reaching it 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 Duplicate Post the fix is 1.4.2: builds <= 1.4.1 are affected, anything from 1.4.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.4.2, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Duplicate Post: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Duplicate Post 1.4.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/a8c8d839-d2a4-4b2a-ad61-a3cda7826636

Related records

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