CVE-2023-22691 in Tips and Tricks HQ Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 05/03/2023
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Tips and Tricks HQ, Ruhul Amin Category Specific RSS feed Subscription plugin <= v2.1 versions.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/27/2023
The CVE-2023-22691 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in the Tips and Tricks HQ plugin for WordPress, specifically affecting versions up to and including v2.1. This vulnerability resides within the Category Specific RSS feed Subscription plugin developed by Ruhul Amin, which is widely used for managing rss feed subscriptions within wordpress environments. The flaw allows malicious actors to exploit the plugin's lack of proper csrf protection mechanisms, potentially enabling unauthorized actions to be performed on behalf of authenticated users. The vulnerability is particularly concerning as it affects a plugin that handles user subscriptions and feed management, creating opportunities for attackers to manipulate rss feed configurations or potentially gain unauthorized access to user data. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-352 category, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications. The issue is classified as a web application vulnerability that can be exploited through maliciously crafted requests, making it a significant threat to wordpress installations using the affected plugin version.
The technical implementation of this csrf vulnerability stems from the plugin's failure to implement proper anti-csrf tokens or validation mechanisms when processing subscription requests. When users navigate to the plugin's rss subscription management interface, the application does not adequately verify the origin of requests or validate that actions are being initiated by legitimate users. This absence of csrf protection means that an attacker could craft malicious web pages or emails containing embedded requests that would automatically execute subscription changes when a victim visits the page while logged into their wordpress admin panel. The vulnerability exploits the trust relationship between the user's browser and the wordpress installation, allowing unauthorized modifications to rss feed configurations without proper user consent or authentication verification. The attack vector typically involves embedding malicious javascript or crafted html forms that submit requests to the plugin's processing endpoints, leveraging the authenticated session to perform unauthorized operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation as it creates potential pathways for more sophisticated attacks within wordpress environments. Attackers could potentially use this csrf flaw to modify rss feed subscriptions, redirect users to malicious sites, or even gain access to sensitive user information through manipulated feed configurations. The vulnerability affects wordpress installations where the Tips and Tricks HQ plugin is actively used, particularly in environments where multiple users have administrative privileges or where users regularly manage rss subscriptions. This creates a significant risk for organizations that rely on rss feed management for content distribution or monitoring, as unauthorized changes could disrupt content flow or provide attackers with additional attack surface. The vulnerability also poses risks for user privacy as malicious actors could potentially modify subscription settings to redirect users to phishing sites or other malicious content. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and credential access through web application exploitation.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-22691 should prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that address the csrf protection deficiencies. System administrators must ensure that all wordpress installations using the Tips and Tricks HQ plugin are updated to the latest available version that includes proper csrf token implementation and validation mechanisms. Organizations should also implement additional security measures such as web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious csrf attempts, as well as regular security audits of installed plugins to identify other potential vulnerabilities. The implementation of proper input validation and request origin verification should be enforced across all plugin endpoints that handle user data modifications. Security teams should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts and monitoring for unauthorized subscription changes. Regular security assessments of wordpress installations should include checks for outdated plugins that may contain known csrf vulnerabilities. Additionally, network segmentation and access control measures can help limit the potential impact if an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, ensuring that even if one system is compromised, the attack scope remains contained. The remediation process should also involve thorough testing of updated plugin versions to ensure that security fixes do not introduce compatibility issues with existing wordpress installations.