CVE-2019-15831 in visitors-traffic-real-time-statistics Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
The visitors-traffic-real-time-statistics plugin before 1.12 for WordPress has CSRF in the settings page.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/11/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-15831 affects the visitors-traffic-real-time-statistics plugin for WordPress, specifically versions prior to 1.12. This represents a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity of the plugin's administrative functionality. The issue stems from the absence of proper Cross-Site Request Forgery protection mechanisms within the plugin's settings page, creating a significant attack vector that can be exploited by malicious actors to manipulate plugin configurations without user consent.
The technical flaw manifests as a missing anti-CSRF token validation on the plugin's settings page, which allows attackers to craft malicious requests that can be executed by authenticated users. When a user visits a compromised website or clicks on a malicious link, the attacker can leverage this vulnerability to modify the plugin's configuration settings, potentially leading to unauthorized data collection, altered traffic statistics, or even complete compromise of the plugin's functionality. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-352 category, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in software applications. The flaw operates by exploiting the trust relationship between the web application and the user, where the application fails to verify that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same session.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple configuration changes, as it can lead to more severe consequences within the WordPress environment. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF vulnerability could potentially redirect traffic analytics, manipulate data collection parameters, or even disable critical monitoring features. This could result in loss of valuable traffic data, misrepresentation of website performance metrics, and potential disruption of business operations that rely on accurate analytics. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations that depend heavily on real-time traffic statistics for decision-making processes, as compromised data could lead to incorrect strategic choices. From an attacker's perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1213.002, which involves data from information repositories, as it allows for unauthorized modification of plugin settings that could contain sensitive operational data.
The mitigation strategy for this vulnerability requires immediate plugin updates to version 1.12 or later, which contains the necessary CSRF protection mechanisms. Administrators should also implement additional security measures such as regularly updating all WordPress plugins and themes, implementing proper input validation, and monitoring for suspicious administrative activities. Network security controls including web application firewalls can provide additional layers of protection by detecting and blocking malicious CSRF attempts. Organizations should also conduct regular security audits of their WordPress installations to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities across their entire plugin ecosystem. The fix implemented in version 1.12 likely involves the addition of anti-CSRF tokens that are validated on each settings page submission, ensuring that requests originate from legitimate user sessions within the same browser context.