CVE-2020-36739 in Feed Them Social Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 07/01/2023
The Feed Them Social – Page, Post, Video, and Photo Galleries plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in versions up to, and including, 2.8.6. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the my_fts_fb_load_more() function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to load feeds via a forged request granted they can trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/01/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-36739 affects the Feed Them Social plugin for WordPress, specifically versions up to and including 2.8.6. This plugin is designed to aggregate and display social media content including pages, posts, videos, and photo galleries directly on WordPress websites. The core issue stems from inadequate security controls within the plugin's implementation, creating a significant risk for WordPress site administrators who rely on this functionality. The vulnerability manifests in the my_fts_fb_load_more() function which handles the loading of additional social media feeds, making it a critical component in the attack surface of affected installations.
The technical flaw resides in the absence of proper nonce validation within the my_fts_fb_load_more() function. A nonce is a cryptographic value that is unique to each request and time-sensitive, designed to prevent cross-site request forgery attacks by ensuring that requests originate from legitimate sources. In this case, the function fails to verify the authenticity of incoming requests, allowing malicious actors to forge requests that appear to come from legitimate administrative sessions. This missing validation creates a pathway for attackers to manipulate the plugin's functionality without proper authorization, effectively bypassing the normal access controls that should protect administrative operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial as it enables unauthenticated attackers to execute unauthorized actions against WordPress sites running the vulnerable plugin version. The attack requires minimal privileges from the attacker's perspective since they only need to trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a malicious link. This social engineering component makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous as it leverages human factors rather than purely technical exploits. Once an administrator clicks a malicious link, the forged request can trigger the loading of feeds from social media platforms, potentially leading to data exposure, unauthorized content manipulation, or even complete compromise of the administrative interface.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities in software systems. This classification emphasizes the fundamental flaw in the plugin's design where it fails to validate the source of requests properly, allowing attackers to exploit the trust relationship between the web application and the user. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1566.001 which covers the technique of "Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment" and T1190 which addresses "Exploit Public-Facing Application" as attackers can leverage this flaw to gain unauthorized access to administrative functions. The vulnerability also represents a failure in the principle of least privilege and proper input validation, which are fundamental security requirements in secure software development practices.
Mitigation strategies should begin with immediate plugin updates to versions that address the nonce validation issue, as the vendor has likely released patches to resolve this vulnerability. Site administrators must ensure that all WordPress plugins are kept up-to-date with the latest security releases and implement regular security audits of their plugin ecosystem. Additional protective measures include implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious requests, monitoring for unusual administrative activity, and educating site administrators about the risks of clicking untrusted links. The vulnerability also underscores the importance of conducting security reviews of third-party plugins before deployment and implementing proper access controls such as two-factor authentication for administrative accounts. Organizations should also consider implementing security monitoring solutions that can detect anomalous behavior patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts.