CVE-2022-45824 in Advanced Booking Calendar Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 12/05/2022
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Advanced Booking Calendar plugin <= 1.7.1 on WordPress.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/31/2022
The CVE-2022-45824 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in the Advanced Booking Calendar WordPress plugin version 1.7.1 and earlier. This vulnerability exists within the plugin's handling of administrative requests and allows authenticated attackers with contributor or higher privileges to execute unauthorized actions on behalf of victims. The flaw stems from the absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms in the plugin's administrative interfaces, creating a pathway for malicious actors to manipulate legitimate user sessions and perform unauthorized operations. The vulnerability specifically affects WordPress installations where the Advanced Booking Calendar plugin is active and properly configured, making it particularly dangerous in environments where multiple users with varying permission levels exist.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability occurs due to the plugin's failure to validate request origins and implement anti-CSRF tokens in its administrative forms and endpoints. When administrators or privileged users access the plugin's administrative interfaces, the system does not verify that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same domain. This absence of validation allows attackers to craft malicious requests that can be executed in the context of authenticated sessions. The vulnerability can be exploited through social engineering techniques where victims are诱导ed to click on malicious links or visit compromised websites that contain embedded CSRF payloads. The flaw operates at the application layer and requires minimal privileges to exploit, making it particularly dangerous in multi-user environments where contributors or editors may have access to sensitive administrative functions.
The operational impact of CVE-2022-45824 extends beyond simple data manipulation, as it can potentially lead to complete compromise of booking systems and related data integrity issues. Attackers could modify booking configurations, alter pricing structures, cancel reservations, or even delete critical calendar data that affects business operations. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of the booking calendar system, potentially disrupting service delivery and creating financial losses for businesses relying on automated booking processes. Additionally, the exploitation could result in unauthorized access to customer data and booking records, creating privacy violations and potential compliance issues with data protection regulations. The vulnerability's impact is amplified in business environments where booking systems are critical to revenue generation and customer service operations, as unauthorized modifications could disrupt entire booking workflows and create operational chaos.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate action from system administrators to upgrade to the patched version of the Advanced Booking Calendar plugin, which addresses the CSRF protection gaps. The recommended approach includes implementing comprehensive plugin management protocols that ensure all third-party components remain up-to-date with the latest security patches. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts, regular security audits of installed plugins, and network monitoring to detect suspicious activities. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to technique T1548.001, which covers abuse of credentials, and T1078.004, which involves valid accounts. Administrators should also consider implementing web application firewalls and request validation mechanisms to provide additional layers of protection against similar CSRF attacks targeting WordPress installations.