CVE-2022-45804 in Photo Gallery, Images, Slider in Rbs Image Gallery Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 03/01/2023
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in RoboSoft Photo Gallery, Images, Slider in Rbs Image Gallery plugin <= 3.2.9 leading to galleries hierarchy change, included plugin deactivate & activate.
Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/26/2023
This cross-site request forgery vulnerability exists within the RoboSoft Photo Gallery plugin for WordPress, specifically affecting versions 3.2.9 and earlier. The flaw allows authenticated attackers with contributor or higher privileges to manipulate the gallery hierarchy through forged requests, potentially leading to unauthorized modifications of the plugin's configuration. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of request origins and missing anti-CSRF tokens in critical administrative endpoints. According to CWE-352, this represents a classic cross-site request forgery weakness where the application fails to verify that requests originate from legitimate sources. The attack vector requires an authenticated user session, making it particularly dangerous in environments where users with lower privileges might be tricked into visiting malicious websites or clicking on compromised links. The vulnerability specifically impacts the plugin's ability to maintain proper gallery hierarchies and can result in unintended deactivation or activation of the plugin itself, potentially disrupting site functionality and creating persistent security issues.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exposes the plugin's administrative interfaces to unauthorized modifications without proper authentication checks. Attackers can leverage this weakness to manipulate gallery structures through specially crafted HTTP requests that appear legitimate to the WordPress application. The CSRF tokens or origin validation mechanisms that should protect these operations are either missing or improperly implemented, allowing malicious actors to perform actions on behalf of authenticated users. This flaw aligns with ATT&CK technique T1548.002 which describes abuse of application permissions to escalate privileges and modify system configurations. The impact extends beyond simple data manipulation as the ability to deactivate and reactivate the plugin creates potential for service disruption and persistent access to compromised systems. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of the image gallery management system, potentially allowing attackers to reorganize or remove gallery structures in ways that could compromise site integrity.
The operational impact of this vulnerability creates significant risks for WordPress sites utilizing the affected plugin version, particularly in multi-user environments where contributors or authors may have elevated privileges. Attackers can exploit this weakness to modify gallery hierarchies, potentially creating confusion in content presentation or removing access to important media assets. The ability to deactivate and reactivate the plugin introduces additional attack surface where malicious actors could disable security features or create persistent backdoors through plugin manipulation. Organizations relying on this plugin for media management face potential data integrity issues and service availability concerns. The vulnerability also poses risks to user privacy and content security, as unauthorized gallery modifications could expose sensitive information or disrupt content delivery. According to security best practices outlined in OWASP Top Ten, CSRF vulnerabilities represent critical threats that can lead to privilege escalation and unauthorized system modifications.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include immediate patching to version 3.3.0 or later where the CSRF protection mechanisms have been properly implemented. Administrators should also implement additional security measures such as role-based access controls to limit who can modify gallery configurations, and consider implementing additional authentication layers for critical administrative functions. Network-level protections including web application firewalls and request origin validation can provide additional defense-in-depth measures. Regular security audits should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other plugins or custom code implementations. The affected plugin developers should ensure proper implementation of CSRF tokens and origin validation in all administrative endpoints, following established security standards and guidelines. Organizations should also establish incident response procedures to quickly identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities in their WordPress environments. Security monitoring should include detection of unauthorized plugin modifications and changes to gallery hierarchies as potential indicators of exploitation attempts.