CVE-2019-15779 in insta-gallery Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
The insta-gallery plugin before 2.4.8 for WordPress has no nonce validation for qligg_dismiss_notice or qligg_form_item_delete.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/07/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-15779 affects the insta-gallery plugin version 2.4.7 and earlier within the WordPress ecosystem. This security flaw resides in the plugin's handling of administrative actions without proper nonce validation mechanisms. The issue specifically impacts two administrative endpoints: qligg_dismiss_notice and qligg_form_item_delete which are used for managing gallery notices and form item deletion respectively. These endpoints lack the necessary cryptographic token verification that WordPress typically requires for administrative operations, creating a significant security risk for affected WordPress installations.
The technical flaw represents a failure in input validation and access control implementation within the plugin's administrative interface. Nonce validation serves as a critical security mechanism in WordPress to prevent unauthorized administrative actions by ensuring that requests originate from legitimate sources within the WordPress admin environment. Without this validation, malicious actors can craft specially crafted requests that bypass normal WordPress security controls. The vulnerability allows for unauthorized modifications to gallery settings and potential deletion of form items through cross-site request forgery attacks, where attackers can trick authenticated users into executing unintended administrative actions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data modification risks. Attackers could potentially exploit this weakness to manipulate gallery configurations, remove critical form elements, or disrupt the normal functioning of the WordPress site. This vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates within the WordPress admin context, meaning that successful exploitation requires only a valid WordPress user session rather than administrative credentials. The flaw affects the principle of least privilege and could lead to unauthorized modifications that might impact site functionality, user experience, and potentially expose sensitive data through manipulated gallery content.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which describes Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) weaknesses in web applications. The absence of nonce validation directly violates WordPress security best practices and represents a failure to implement proper anti-CSRF protections. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1213 (Data from Information Repositories) and T1078 (Valid Accounts) as attackers could leverage authenticated sessions to perform unauthorized administrative actions. The vulnerability also relates to T1547 (Boot or Logon Autostart Execution) if attackers can use the gallery modifications to establish persistent access through manipulated gallery content.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate plugin updates to version 2.4.8 or later, which contains the necessary nonce validation fixes. Administrators should also implement additional security measures including regular security audits of installed plugins, monitoring for unauthorized administrative changes, and ensuring that all WordPress installations maintain current versions of core software and plugins. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls can provide additional defense-in-depth layers, while security monitoring solutions should be configured to detect suspicious administrative activities. Regular security assessments and adherence to the principle of least privilege for user accounts can further reduce the risk exposure associated with such vulnerabilities.