CVE-2015-1874 in Contact Form DB
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Contact Form DB (aka CFDB and contact-form-7-to-database-extension) plugin before 2.8.32 for WordPress allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that delete all plugin records via a request in the CF7DBPluginSubmissions page to wp-admin/admin.php.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/29/2024
The CVE-2015-1874 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the Contact Form DB plugin for WordPress systems. This plugin, also known as CFDB or contact-form-7-to-database-extension, was widely used to capture and store contact form submissions from WordPress websites. The vulnerability existed in versions prior to 2.8.32 and created a significant security risk that could be exploited by remote attackers to gain unauthorized administrative access. The flaw specifically targeted the administrative interface of the plugin, particularly the CF7DBPluginSubmissions page located within the wp-admin/admin.php endpoint. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to execute malicious requests that would delete all plugin records without proper authentication from legitimate administrators.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF token validation within the plugin's administrative pages. When administrators accessed the CF7DBPluginSubmissions page, the plugin failed to verify that requests originated from legitimate administrative sessions rather than crafted malicious requests. This omission allowed attackers to construct specially formatted requests that would appear to come from authenticated administrators, thereby bypassing the standard WordPress authentication mechanisms. The vulnerability specifically enabled attackers to delete all plugin records, which could result in complete loss of contact form submission data that administrators had collected over time. The flaw was particularly dangerous because it targeted the administrative backend functionality where sensitive data operations were performed, making it possible for attackers to cause both data loss and potential disruption of business operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability was substantial for WordPress administrators who relied on the Contact Form DB plugin for data collection and management. Attackers could exploit this weakness to permanently delete all stored contact form submissions, potentially resulting in loss of critical business data and customer information. The vulnerability also posed a risk to website availability and integrity, as administrators might need to restore data from backups or reconfigure the plugin entirely. Organizations using WordPress with this plugin version faced potential compliance issues, as the deletion of contact form data could violate data retention requirements and privacy regulations. The attack vector required minimal technical expertise, making it accessible to a broad range of threat actors and increasing the overall risk exposure for affected systems.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-1874 centered on immediate plugin updates to version 2.8.32 or later, which contained the necessary CSRF token validation fixes. Administrators should have implemented additional security measures including regular monitoring of administrative access logs, deployment of web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious requests, and implementation of multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery conditions, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1078.004 for valid accounts usage and T1485 for data destruction. Organizations should have also conducted comprehensive security audits of their WordPress installations, reviewed plugin permissions and access controls, and established incident response procedures to address potential exploitation attempts. Regular security updates and patch management programs became essential practices to prevent similar vulnerabilities from affecting other WordPress plugins and systems.