Database Collation Fix <= 1.2.7 - Cross-Site Request Forgery via admin_page
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.2.8
- Affected Plugin
- Database Collation Fix
- Affected Version
<= 1.2.7- CVSS
- 4.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-352 · Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
- CVE
CVE-2023-23997
At a glance
CVE-2023-23997 is a medium-severity Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Database Collation Fix WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.2.7. 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 1.2.8; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed April 2023, reported by Kévin Mosbahi (Mika).
Vulnerability Overview
The Database Collation Fix plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in versions up to, and including, 1.2.7. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the admin_page function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to trigger a collation fix 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 Database Collation Fix <= 1.2.7 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 Database Collation Fix the fix is 1.2.8: builds <= 1.2.7 are affected, anything from 1.2.8 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.2.8, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Database Collation Fix: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Database Collation Fix 1.2.8 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Database Collation Fix
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