CVE-2017-18613 in trust-form Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
The trust-form plugin 2.0 for WordPress has XSS via the wp-admin/admin.php?page=trust-form-edit page parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/19/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-18613 affects the trust-form plugin version 2.0 for WordPress, representing a cross-site scripting weakness that enables malicious actors to inject arbitrary web scripts into the administrative interface. This particular vulnerability manifests within the wp-admin/admin.php?page=trust-form-edit page parameter, which fails to properly sanitize user input before rendering it within the web page context. The trust-form plugin serves as a WordPress extension designed to facilitate form creation and management, making it a legitimate component within the WordPress ecosystem that administrators might regularly utilize for various business purposes.
The technical flaw stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding practices within the plugin's administrative interface. When administrators navigate to the trust-form-edit page, the plugin processes the page parameter without adequate sanitization, allowing attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code through the URL parameter. This weakness directly maps to CWE-79, which categorizes cross-site scripting vulnerabilities as a result of inadequate input validation or improper output encoding. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it targets the WordPress administrative interface, where privileged users typically have elevated permissions and access to sensitive system configurations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it can potentially enable attackers to escalate privileges, steal administrator sessions, or manipulate form data within the WordPress environment. An attacker could craft malicious URLs that, when visited by an authenticated administrator, would execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the admin context. This could lead to session hijacking, data exfiltration, or even complete compromise of the WordPress installation. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of securing administrative interfaces, as these areas often contain the most sensitive functionality within web applications and are prime targets for exploitation attempts.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate patching of the trust-form plugin to version 2.1 or later, which addresses the XSS flaw through proper input sanitization and output encoding. Administrators should also implement additional security measures such as regular security audits of installed plugins, monitoring for suspicious administrative activity, and implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious script injection attempts. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1213, which covers data from information repositories, as attackers could potentially extract sensitive form data or administrative credentials through the exploited XSS vector. Organizations should also consider implementing Content Security Policy headers to add an additional layer of protection against script injection attacks, while maintaining proper access controls and regularly updating all WordPress components to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being exploited in the future.