CVE-2016-10884 in simple-membership Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
The simple-membership plugin before 3.3.3 for WordPress has multiple CSRF issues.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/25/2023
The simple-membership plugin for WordPress prior to version 3.3.3 contained multiple cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities that could allow authenticated attackers to perform unauthorized actions within the affected WordPress environment. These CSRF flaws existed due to insufficient validation of request origins and lack of proper anti-CSRF token implementation within the plugin's administrative interfaces. The vulnerability specifically impacted the plugin's membership management functionality, where attackers could exploit the weakness to manipulate user accounts, modify membership levels, or perform other administrative operations without proper authorization.
The technical nature of these CSRF vulnerabilities stems from the plugin's failure to implement robust anti-CSRF mechanisms in its administrative forms and AJAX endpoints. When users with administrative privileges accessed certain plugin pages, the application did not validate that requests originated from legitimate sources within the same session. This allowed attackers to craft malicious requests that would be executed by authenticated users' browsers, effectively bypassing the authentication and authorization controls. The vulnerability was particularly dangerous because it could be exploited through social engineering techniques where administrators would be tricked into visiting malicious websites that contained hidden forms or scripts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability was significant for WordPress sites utilizing the simple-membership plugin. Attackers could potentially escalate privileges, modify user membership statuses, create new user accounts, or even delete existing memberships without the knowledge of the legitimate administrators. This could lead to unauthorized access to premium content, disruption of membership services, and potential data integrity issues within the affected WordPress installations. The vulnerability was especially concerning in environments where multiple administrators had access to the plugin's administrative interfaces, as it provided a vector for privilege escalation attacks that could compromise the entire membership management system.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should have immediately upgraded to version 3.3.3 or later of the simple-membership plugin to receive the necessary CSRF protection fixes. The mitigation strategy should also include implementing additional security measures such as role-based access controls, regular security audits of installed plugins, and monitoring for suspicious administrative activities. From a compliance perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses, and could be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1548 for abuse of privileges. Security teams should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring for unusual administrative patterns that could indicate CSRF attack attempts.
The broader implications of this vulnerability highlight the critical importance of proper input validation and anti-CSRF token implementation in WordPress plugins. Many plugins fail to adequately protect their administrative interfaces against CSRF attacks, creating potential entry points for attackers seeking to compromise WordPress sites. This issue underscores the necessity for developers to follow secure coding practices and for site administrators to maintain up-to-date plugins with known security vulnerabilities. The vulnerability also demonstrates how seemingly minor flaws in plugin code can have significant security implications when combined with other attack vectors or when exploited in conjunction with other vulnerabilities within the WordPress ecosystem.