CVE-2016-10885 in wp-editor Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
The wp-editor plugin before 1.2.6 for WordPress has CSRF.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/27/2020
The wp-editor plugin for WordPress suffered from a critical cross-site request forgery vulnerability that existed prior to version 1.2.6, representing a significant security weakness in the content management system ecosystem. This vulnerability falls under the category of CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery flaws in web applications. The issue allowed attackers to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent, exploiting the fundamental trust relationship between the web application and its users.
The technical flaw manifested in the plugin's failure to implement proper anti-CSRF measures during form submissions and API calls. When users accessed the WordPress admin interface and interacted with the wp-editor plugin, malicious actors could craft specially crafted web pages or emails containing hidden form submissions that would execute unintended operations on the target site. These operations could include modifying editor settings, altering content configurations, or potentially gaining elevated privileges within the WordPress environment. The vulnerability was particularly dangerous because it leveraged the existing authentication state of legitimate users, making it difficult to detect and prevent through traditional network monitoring approaches.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extended beyond simple data manipulation, potentially allowing attackers to establish persistent access vectors within WordPress installations. Successful exploitation could lead to complete compromise of the affected WordPress sites, enabling attackers to modify content, inject malicious code, or even escalate privileges to administrator level access. This risk was compounded by the widespread adoption of WordPress and the wp-editor plugin, which meant that numerous websites were potentially exposed to this vulnerability. The attack surface was particularly concerning given that WordPress powers over 40% of all websites globally, making this a critical issue for web security professionals managing multiple sites.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability required immediate patching of the wp-editor plugin to version 1.2.6 or later, which implemented proper CSRF token validation mechanisms. Security professionals should have enforced the principle of least privilege by restricting plugin installation permissions and regularly auditing installed plugins for known vulnerabilities. Additionally, implementing Content Security Policy headers and ensuring proper session management practices would have provided additional layers of protection against similar attacks. Organizations should have maintained updated vulnerability scanning procedures and established incident response protocols to address such issues promptly when they were discovered. The vulnerability also highlighted the importance of adhering to the ATT&CK framework's concept of privilege escalation and credential access techniques, as the successful exploitation could lead to broader compromise of the affected systems.