Urvanov Syntax Highlighter <= 2.8.33 - Cross-Site Request Forgery via init_ajax
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.8.34
- Affected Plugin
- Urvanov Syntax Highlighter
- Affected Version
<= 2.8.33- CVSS
- 5.4Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-352 · Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
- CVE
CVE-2023-45106
At a glance
CVE-2023-45106 is a medium-severity Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Urvanov Syntax Highlighter WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.8.33. It carries a CVSS score of 5.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.8.34; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2023, reported by Kévin Mosbahi (Mika).
Vulnerability Overview
The Urvanov Syntax Highlighter plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in versions up to, and including, 2.8.33. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the init_ajax function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to perform multiple actions including saving, submitting, duplicating, and deleting syntax highlighting blocks 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 Urvanov Syntax Highlighter <= 2.8.33 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 Urvanov Syntax Highlighter the fix is 2.8.34: builds <= 2.8.33 are affected, anything from 2.8.34 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.8.34, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Urvanov Syntax Highlighter: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Urvanov Syntax Highlighter 2.8.34 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C