CVE-2012-10017 in Portfolio Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 12/26/2023
A vulnerability was found in BestWebSoft Portfolio Plugin up to 2.04 on WordPress. It has been classified as problematic. This affects an unknown part. The manipulation leads to cross-site request forgery. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. Upgrading to version 2.06 is able to address this issue. The patch is named 68af950330c3202a706f0ae9bbb52ceaa17dda9d. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. The associated identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-248955.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/18/2024
The CVE-2012-10017 vulnerability represents a cross-site request forgery flaw in the BestWebSoft Portfolio Plugin for WordPress, specifically affecting versions up to 2.04. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-352 category, which classifies cross-site request forgery as a critical security weakness that allows attackers to perform actions on behalf of authenticated users. The vulnerability exists in an unknown part of the plugin's codebase, making it particularly concerning as it could potentially affect core functionality or administrative interfaces within the WordPress ecosystem. The flaw enables remote exploitation, meaning that attackers can initiate malicious requests without requiring physical access to the target system or user interaction beyond visiting a compromised website.
The technical nature of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the plugin's failure to implement proper anti-forgery tokens or validation mechanisms for critical operations. When users access the portfolio plugin's administrative features, the system should verify that requests originate from legitimate sources and are not being forged by malicious actors. Without adequate protection measures, an attacker can craft malicious web pages that automatically submit requests to the vulnerable plugin, potentially allowing unauthorized modifications to portfolio content, user permissions, or other sensitive data. The remote exploit capability significantly increases the attack surface, as the vulnerability can be leveraged through various attack vectors including phishing emails, compromised websites, or social engineering campaigns that direct users to malicious content.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation, potentially compromising the entire WordPress installation if the portfolio plugin is used for critical content management tasks. Attackers could exploit this flaw to modify portfolio entries, inject malicious content, or even escalate privileges within the WordPress environment. The vulnerability's classification as problematic indicates that it presents a significant risk to website integrity and user data security, particularly for websites that rely heavily on portfolio displays and user-generated content management. Organizations using this plugin without proper mitigation measures face potential reputational damage, data loss, and compliance violations if their systems are compromised through this attack vector.
Security best practices recommend immediate remediation through the upgrade to version 2.06, which includes the patch identified by the commit hash 68af950330c3202a706f0ae9bbb52ceaa17dda9d. This update addresses the core CSRF implementation issues by introducing proper token validation and request origin verification mechanisms. The patch aligns with recommended security controls from the ATT&CK framework, specifically targeting the privilege escalation and defense evasion techniques that attackers might employ through CSRF attacks. Organizations should not only apply this specific patch but also conduct comprehensive security assessments of their WordPress installations, ensuring that all plugins and themes are updated to their latest secure versions. Additionally, implementing additional security layers such as web application firewalls, content security policies, and regular security monitoring can provide enhanced protection against similar vulnerabilities in the future.