CVE-2013-2702 in Easy-adsense-lite
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Easy AdSense Lite plugin before 6.10 for WordPress allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users for requests that modify this plugin s settings.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/26/2019
The CVE-2013-2702 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw in the Easy AdSense Lite WordPress plugin, affecting versions prior to 6.10. This vulnerability resides within the plugin's authentication mechanism and allows remote attackers to exploit the trust relationship between users and the web application. The flaw specifically targets the plugin's settings modification functionality, enabling unauthorized users to manipulate configuration parameters without proper authentication. The vulnerability's classification as a CSRF issue places it under CWE-352, which defines cross-site request forgery as a security weakness where the application fails to validate the origin of requests, allowing malicious actors to perform actions on behalf of authenticated users. This weakness directly violates the principle of proper authentication and authorization controls that should be enforced for all administrative operations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the plugin's failure to implement proper anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms for sensitive administrative actions. When legitimate users access the plugin's settings interface, the application does not adequately verify that requests originate from authorized sources or that the user has intentionally initiated the action. Attackers can craft malicious web pages or exploit existing vulnerabilities in other parts of the website to submit forged requests that modify the plugin's configuration. These forged requests can potentially disable ad functionality, redirect traffic, or even inject malicious code into the ad serving infrastructure. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates at the application layer, leveraging the trust relationship that exists between the WordPress installation and its users who are already authenticated.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple configuration changes and can significantly compromise the security posture of WordPress installations. Attackers who successfully exploit this CSRF vulnerability can manipulate ad settings to redirect users to malicious websites, inject malware through compromised ad networks, or disable ad functionality to disrupt revenue streams. The vulnerability affects the plugin's ability to maintain secure administrative controls, potentially allowing attackers to establish persistent malicious configurations that could go unnoticed for extended periods. This type of vulnerability also enables attackers to perform privilege escalation attacks by modifying plugin settings that may affect other aspects of the website's functionality. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it requires minimal user interaction beyond visiting a malicious page, making it an effective method for widespread exploitation across multiple WordPress installations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2013-2702 should prioritize immediate plugin updates to version 6.10 or later, which contains the necessary CSRF protection mechanisms. Organizations should implement additional security controls including web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious request patterns, proper input validation for all administrative endpoints, and regular security audits of installed plugins. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date WordPress plugins and following security best practices such as implementing proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms, which aligns with the ATT&CK framework's mitigation recommendations for web application security. Network administrators should also consider implementing principle of least privilege controls, ensuring that only authorized personnel can access plugin administration interfaces, and establishing monitoring procedures to detect unauthorized configuration changes. Regular security assessments of WordPress installations should include checks for outdated plugins and vulnerable components, as this vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly minor security flaws can provide attackers with significant access privileges and compromise entire web applications.