CVE-2022-40488 in ProcessWire
Summary
by MITRE • 10/31/2022
ProcessWire v3.0.200 was discovered to contain a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/07/2025
ProcessWire version 3.0.200 contains a critical cross-site request forgery vulnerability that allows attackers to execute unauthorized administrative actions on behalf of authenticated users. This vulnerability arises from the absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms within the application's web interface, specifically affecting the core administrative functionality that manages website content and configuration settings. The flaw enables malicious actors to trick authenticated users into performing unintended operations through carefully crafted malicious requests that leverage the user's existing session credentials.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from ProcessWire's failure to validate the origin of HTTP requests submitted through its administrative panels. When users navigate to the admin interface and perform actions such as creating or modifying pages, users, or configuration settings, the application does not require a valid anti-CSRF token to be present in the request payload. This absence of token validation creates a fundamental security gap that allows attackers to construct malicious web pages or send phishing emails containing embedded requests that automatically execute administrative functions when victims visit the malicious content while authenticated to ProcessWire.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data modification, as it provides attackers with the ability to escalate privileges and potentially gain complete control over the affected website. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to create new administrative user accounts, modify existing user permissions, delete critical content, or even inject malicious code into the website's structure. The severity is amplified by the fact that the vulnerability affects the core administrative functionality, meaning that successful exploitation could result in complete website compromise, data loss, or unauthorized access to sensitive information stored within the ProcessWire installation.
Security professionals should note that this vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications. The flaw also maps to several ATT&CK techniques including T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential harvesting, as the vulnerability allows attackers to leverage existing authenticated sessions to perform malicious activities without requiring additional authentication credentials. Organizations using ProcessWire version 3.0.200 should immediately implement mitigations including the deployment of web application firewalls, enabling proper CSRF token validation, and ensuring all administrative interfaces require robust anti-CSRF protection mechanisms. The recommended solution involves updating to ProcessWire version 3.0.201 or later, which includes proper CSRF token implementation and validation, along with implementing additional security measures such as multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts and regular security audits of web applications to identify similar vulnerabilities.
The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of implementing comprehensive CSRF protection mechanisms within web applications, particularly those handling sensitive administrative functions. Organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their web applications to identify similar CSRF vulnerabilities and ensure that all user-initiated actions require proper validation of request origins and authenticity. The presence of such vulnerabilities in widely-used content management systems like ProcessWire highlights the need for continuous security monitoring and timely patch management to prevent exploitation by threat actors who actively seek out these types of weaknesses in web applications.