CVE-2022-4941 in WCFM Membership Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/05/2023
The WCFM Membership plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in versions up to, and including, 2.9.10 due to missing nonce checks on various AJAX actions. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to perform a wide variety of actions such as modifying membership details, changing renewal information, controlling membership approvals, and more, via a forged request granted they can trick a site's administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/09/2026
The CVE-2022-4941 vulnerability affects the WCFM Membership plugin for WordPress, specifically versions up to and including 2.9.10, presenting a critical cross-site request forgery weakness that undermines the security posture of affected websites. This vulnerability stems from the absence of proper nonce validation mechanisms within the plugin's AJAX endpoints, which are designed to authenticate and authorize administrative actions. The flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to execute malicious requests that manipulate user membership data without requiring legitimate credentials or administrative privileges.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the plugin's failure to validate cryptographic nonces on critical AJAX actions that handle membership management functions. According to CWE-352, this represents a classic cross-site request forgery vulnerability where the application lacks proper protection against unauthorized requests. The vulnerability operates by exploiting the trust relationship between the web application and its users, specifically targeting the administrative interface of the membership plugin. Attackers can craft malicious requests that appear legitimate to the WordPress application because the nonce verification mechanism is bypassed, enabling them to perform unauthorized operations through the plugin's AJAX handlers.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple data manipulation, as it grants attackers comprehensive control over membership management functions within the affected WordPress installations. Administrators can be tricked into executing malicious actions through social engineering techniques such as clicking on compromised links or visiting malicious websites that trigger the forged requests. The consequences include unauthorized modification of membership details, alteration of renewal schedules, control over membership approval processes, and potential disruption of the entire membership system. This vulnerability directly impacts the integrity and availability of membership data, potentially leading to unauthorized access to premium content, financial fraud through membership manipulation, and complete compromise of the membership management system.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-4941 require immediate action from administrators, including updating the WCFM Membership plugin to version 2.9.11 or later where the nonce validation has been properly implemented. Organizations should also implement additional defensive measures such as monitoring for suspicious AJAX activity, implementing web application firewalls to detect and block malformed requests, and conducting comprehensive security audits of all installed WordPress plugins. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which describes social engineering tactics used to trick users into executing malicious actions. Security teams should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts and regular security scanning to identify similar vulnerabilities in other plugins or themes. The remediation process should include thorough testing of the updated plugin to ensure that all membership management functions operate correctly while maintaining proper security controls.