CVE-2016-10918 in gallery-by-supsystic Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
The gallery-by-supsystic plugin before 1.8.6 for WordPress has CSRF.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/28/2023
The CVE-2016-10918 vulnerability affects the gallery-by-supsystic plugin for WordPress, specifically versions prior to 1.8.6, and represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw that compromises the integrity of WordPress installations. This vulnerability exists within the plugin's handling of administrative requests, allowing authenticated attackers to execute unauthorized actions on behalf of legitimate users without their knowledge or consent. The flaw specifically impacts the plugin's administrative interfaces where sensitive operations such as configuration changes, media management, and plugin settings modifications can be manipulated through forged requests.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper request validation mechanisms within the plugin's administrative endpoints. When administrators access the plugin's management interface, the system fails to implement anti-CSRF tokens or other sufficient validation methods to verify that requests originate from legitimate administrative sessions. This allows attackers to craft malicious web pages or exploit existing vulnerabilities in other parts of the WordPress installation to trigger administrative actions. The vulnerability typically manifests when an authenticated administrator visits a malicious website or clicks on compromised links that automatically submit requests to the vulnerable plugin's endpoints, potentially leading to unauthorized modifications of gallery configurations, media settings, or other administrative functions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it can enable attackers to gain persistent access to WordPress administrative interfaces and potentially escalate their privileges further. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to modify gallery settings, inject malicious content, or even disable security features within the plugin, creating backdoors for future exploitation. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in environments where administrators frequently visit external websites or where the WordPress installation lacks proper security hardening measures. The impact is amplified when considering that many WordPress installations rely heavily on third-party plugins for core functionality, making the compromise of any plugin's administrative interface potentially devastating to overall site security.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-10918 primarily focus on immediate remediation through plugin updates to version 1.8.6 or later, which addresses the CSRF implementation flaws. Organizations should implement comprehensive patch management procedures to ensure all WordPress plugins remain current with security updates. Additionally, implementing proper input validation, session management, and anti-CSRF token mechanisms within the WordPress environment can provide defense-in-depth against similar vulnerabilities. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery flaws in web applications, and represents a classic example of how insufficient validation of user requests can lead to privilege escalation and unauthorized system modifications. Security professionals should also consider implementing network-level protections such as web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious administrative activities that could indicate exploitation attempts, as recommended by ATT&CK framework techniques related to privilege escalation and persistence mechanisms.