CVE-2014-7957 in Pods
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in the Pods plugin before 2.5 for WordPress allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that (1) conduct cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks via the toggled parameter in a toggle action in the pods-components page to wp-admin/admin.php, (2) delete a pod in a delete action in the pods page to wp-admin/admin.php, (3) reset pod settings and data via the pods_reset parameter in the pod-settings page to wp-admin/admin.php, (4) deactivate and reset pod data via the pods_reset_deactivate parameter in the pod-settings page to wp-admin/admin.php, (5) delete the admin role via the id parameter in a delete action in the pods-component-roles-and-capabilities page to wp-admin/admin.php, or (6) enable "roles and capabilities" in a toggle action in the pods-components page to wp-admin/admin.php.
VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/11/2022
The vulnerability described in CVE-2014-7957 represents a critical cross-site request forgery issue within the Pods plugin for WordPress, affecting versions prior to 2.5. This flaw exposes administrators to unauthorized actions that can compromise the entire WordPress installation. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of user requests, allowing remote attackers to manipulate administrative functions through carefully crafted malicious requests that appear legitimate to the WordPress admin interface. The attack vector leverages the trust relationship between the admin browser and the WordPress admin panel, enabling unauthorized modifications to plugin configurations and user roles.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability manifests across multiple administrative endpoints within the Pods plugin interface. Attackers can exploit the toggled parameter in the pods-components page to inject malicious JavaScript payloads through cross-site scripting attacks, effectively bypassing standard security controls. The vulnerability also permits deletion of pods through the delete action in the pods page, allowing attackers to remove critical data structures. Additionally, the pods_reset parameter in the pod-settings page enables complete pod configuration resets, while the pods_reset_deactivate parameter allows deactivation and data clearing operations. The vulnerability extends to role management through the id parameter in the pods-component-roles-and-capabilities page, where attackers can delete administrator roles, fundamentally compromising system security.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, potentially allowing attackers to establish persistent access to WordPress installations. Successful exploitation could result in complete administrative control, data destruction, and unauthorized privilege escalation. The ability to delete admin roles fundamentally undermines the security model, as it removes the primary protection mechanism for administrative access. The XSS capability through the toggle action creates a dangerous escalation path where attackers can inject malicious scripts that persist in the admin interface, potentially compromising other users or enabling further attacks. These vulnerabilities collectively represent a comprehensive attack surface that can lead to complete system compromise.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate plugin updates to version 2.5 or later, which contain the necessary CSRF token validation mechanisms. Organizations should implement additional security measures including the use of security plugins that enhance WordPress CSRF protection, regular security auditing of installed plugins, and monitoring of administrative actions. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional protection against XSS exploitation, while multi-factor authentication should be enabled to reduce the impact of successful CSRF attacks. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls can help detect and block suspicious requests targeting these administrative endpoints. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1546 for privilege escalation through administrative access compromise.