CVE-2012-6629 in Newsletter Manager
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in the Newsletter Manager plugin 1.0.2 and earlier for WordPress allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that (1) change an email address or (2) conduct script insertion attacks. NOTE: the provenance of this information is unknown; the details are obtained solely from third party information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/17/2018
The CVE-2012-6629 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery issue within the WordPress Newsletter Manager plugin version 1.0.2 and earlier. This vulnerability exposes WordPress installations to sophisticated attack vectors that can compromise administrative privileges and enable unauthorized modifications to email configurations. The flaw specifically affects the plugin's handling of administrative requests, creating opportunities for attackers to manipulate the system through carefully crafted malicious requests that appear legitimate to the WordPress backend.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper validation mechanisms within the plugin's administrative interfaces. When administrators perform actions such as modifying email addresses or executing script insertion operations, the plugin fails to implement adequate anti-CSRF tokens or request origin verification. This omission allows remote attackers to construct malicious web pages or exploit existing vulnerabilities in other parts of the web application to trick authenticated administrators into executing unintended operations. The vulnerability operates at the web application layer, specifically targeting the plugin's administrative functionality rather than core WordPress components, making it particularly dangerous as it exploits the trust relationship between the administrator's browser and the WordPress installation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it provides attackers with the ability to fundamentally alter the newsletter management configuration and potentially inject malicious scripts into the system. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could change administrator email addresses, effectively locking out legitimate users from accessing administrative functions, or insert malicious scripts that could redirect users to phishing sites, steal session cookies, or execute arbitrary code within the context of the administrator's privileges. This represents a significant threat to both data integrity and user security, as the compromised administrative access could be leveraged for further exploitation including privilege escalation to other users or system-wide compromise.
From a cybersecurity framework perspective, this vulnerability maps directly to CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for credential harvesting through social engineering. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of implementing proper input validation and request verification mechanisms in web applications, particularly in plugin architectures where third-party code can introduce security gaps. Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation through plugin updates, implementation of web application firewalls, and comprehensive security audits of all installed WordPress plugins to prevent exploitation of similar vulnerabilities. The incident underscores the necessity of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing defense-in-depth strategies to protect against authenticated attack vectors that can compromise administrative systems.