CVE-2022-1761 in Peters Collaboration E-mails Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 06/13/2022
The Peter’s Collaboration E-mails WordPress plugin through 2.2.0 is vulnerable to CSRF due to missing nonce checks. This allows the change of its settings, which can be used to lower the required user level, change texts, the used email address and more.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/13/2022
The CVE-2022-1761 vulnerability affects the Peter’s Collaboration E-mails WordPress plugin version 2.2.0 and earlier, representing a critical cross-site request forgery weakness that undermines the plugin's security posture. This vulnerability stems from the absence of proper nonce validation mechanisms within the plugin's administrative interfaces, creating an exploitable condition that allows unauthorized modification of critical plugin settings. The flaw specifically impacts the plugin's ability to authenticate and validate administrative requests, leaving it susceptible to malicious exploitation by attackers who can manipulate the plugin's configuration without proper authorization.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a failure in the plugin's input validation and request authentication mechanisms, which directly correlates to CWE-352 - Cross-Site Request Forgery. The absence of nonce checks means that any authenticated user can potentially submit malicious requests to modify plugin settings through crafted web requests. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and affects the WordPress plugin's administrative functionality, where legitimate administrative actions should require proper authentication tokens to prevent unauthorized modifications. Attackers can leverage this weakness to alter the plugin's configuration parameters including user access levels, text content, and email address settings, potentially compromising the integrity of email communications and user access controls.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple configuration changes, as it can significantly compromise the security and functionality of the affected WordPress installation. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF vulnerability could downgrade user permissions, modify email templates, change recipient addresses, or alter other critical plugin settings that affect collaboration workflows and communication processes. This compromise can lead to unauthorized access to email systems, potential data leakage, or disruption of legitimate collaboration features that depend on the plugin's proper configuration. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal technical expertise and can be automated, making it particularly dangerous in environments where multiple users have access to the administrative interface.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-1761 should prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that address the nonce validation issue, as this represents the most effective defense against the vulnerability. Organizations should implement additional security measures including regular security audits of WordPress plugins, monitoring for unauthorized administrative changes, and ensuring that all plugin installations undergo security verification before deployment. The implementation of proper nonce validation mechanisms, as recommended by the OWASP Top Ten and the WordPress security hardening guidelines, should be enforced across all administrative interfaces. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls and security monitoring systems can provide additional layers of defense, while regular security training for administrators helps prevent social engineering attacks that might exploit this vulnerability. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1078 - Valid Accounts and T1566 - Phishing, highlighting the importance of both account security and user awareness in preventing exploitation of such CSRF weaknesses in WordPress environments.