CVE-2013-0736 in Mingle-forum
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in the Mingle Forum plugin 1.0.34 and possibly earlier for WordPress allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that (1) modify user privileges or (2) conduct cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/11/2017
The CVE-2013-0736 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in the Mingle Forum plugin version 1.0.34 and potentially earlier iterations for the WordPress content management system. This vulnerability resides within the web application's authentication and authorization mechanisms, specifically targeting the plugin's handling of user privilege modifications and cross-site scripting attack capabilities. The flaw stems from insufficient validation of request origins and lack of proper anti-CSRF token implementation, creating a significant security gap that adversaries can exploit to gain unauthorized administrative access.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability allows remote attackers to manipulate the WordPress administrative interface through carefully crafted malicious requests that appear legitimate to the target system. Attackers can leverage this weakness to modify user privileges within the forum plugin, effectively elevating their access rights or creating malicious user accounts with elevated permissions. Additionally, the vulnerability enables attackers to execute cross-site scripting attacks by injecting malicious payloads through the compromised administrative sessions, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The unspecified vectors mentioned in the description suggest that multiple attack surfaces within the plugin's codebase are susceptible to this type of exploitation.
The operational impact of CVE-2013-0736 extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as successful exploitation can result in complete administrative control over the affected WordPress installation. Attackers can modify forum configurations, delete or alter content, manipulate user accounts, and potentially establish persistent backdoors within the system. The vulnerability's ability to facilitate XSS attacks creates additional attack vectors that can be used to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, or harvest sensitive information from authenticated sessions. This dual nature of the vulnerability makes it particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged for both immediate administrative takeover and long-term persistent compromise of the affected platform.
Security professionals should note that this vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications. The flaw demonstrates poor input validation and insufficient session management practices that violate fundamental web security principles. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1566 - Phishing and T1078 - Valid Accounts, as attackers can leverage compromised administrative sessions to maintain persistence and conduct further reconnaissance activities. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including plugin updates to the latest secure versions, implementation of anti-CSRF tokens throughout the application, and regular security audits of third-party WordPress plugins to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being exploited in the future.
The remediation strategy for this vulnerability requires immediate patching of the Mingle Forum plugin to a version that properly implements CSRF protection mechanisms. System administrators should also deploy web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious cross-site request patterns, implement proper session management controls, and conduct thorough security assessments of all installed WordPress plugins. Additionally, organizations should establish monitoring procedures to detect unauthorized privilege modifications and suspicious administrative activities that could indicate successful exploitation of this CSRF vulnerability.