CVE-2016-10903 in godaddy-email-marketing-sign-up-forms Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
The GoDaddy godaddy-email-marketing-sign-up-forms plugin before 1.1.3 for WordPress has CSRF.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/28/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-10903 affects the GoDaddy godaddy-email-marketing-sign-up-forms plugin for WordPress, specifically versions prior to 1.1.3. This represents a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity of user authentication and authorization mechanisms within the WordPress ecosystem. The plugin's failure to implement proper cross-site request forgery protection creates a significant attack surface that malicious actors can exploit to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users. The vulnerability resides in the plugin's form handling mechanisms where it fails to validate the origin of requests, allowing attackers to craft malicious requests that appear legitimate to the WordPress installation. This weakness is particularly dangerous because it enables attackers to manipulate email marketing signup forms without requiring explicit user credentials or authentication tokens, effectively bypassing standard security controls.
The technical implementation flaw stems from the absence of anti-CSRF tokens or similar validation mechanisms within the plugin's processing routines. When users interact with email marketing signup forms, the plugin should validate that requests originate from legitimate sources and contain proper authentication tokens to prevent unauthorized modifications. However, the vulnerable versions lack these protective measures, making them susceptible to exploitation through various attack vectors including phishing campaigns, compromised user sessions, or social engineering tactics. The vulnerability specifically impacts the plugin's ability to authenticate form submissions, creating opportunities for attackers to manipulate subscription data, modify form configurations, or inject malicious content into the email marketing workflows. This flaw aligns with CWE-352, which categorizes cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities as a fundamental weakness in web application security where applications fail to validate the authenticity of requests.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to encompass potential business disruption and reputational damage for affected WordPress installations. Attackers exploiting this weakness could alter email marketing campaigns, redirect user submissions to malicious endpoints, or gain unauthorized access to sensitive subscriber data. The vulnerability affects WordPress sites that rely on the GoDaddy email marketing plugin for customer engagement and lead generation, potentially compromising the integrity of email marketing databases and undermining trust in the affected organizations. Security researchers have documented similar patterns in WordPress plugin ecosystems where insufficient input validation and authentication checks create persistent security risks. The vulnerability also presents opportunities for attackers to escalate privileges or use the compromised plugin as a foothold for further attacks within the WordPress environment, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1213.002 for credential access through web application exploitation.
Organizations utilizing the affected plugin version should immediately implement patch management procedures to upgrade to version 1.1.3 or later, which incorporates proper CSRF protection mechanisms. The mitigation strategy should include comprehensive security auditing of all installed WordPress plugins to identify similar vulnerabilities and ensure that anti-CSRF tokens are properly implemented throughout form processing workflows. System administrators should also consider implementing additional security measures such as web application firewalls, regular security monitoring, and user session validation to detect and prevent unauthorized access attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date third-party components and implementing robust security controls within WordPress installations to prevent exploitation of known vulnerabilities. Organizations should also establish proactive security monitoring procedures to identify and remediate similar issues before they can be exploited by malicious actors.