CVE-2023-25065 in ShapedPlugin WP Tabs Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 02/14/2023
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in ShapedPlugin WP Tabs – Responsive Tabs Plugin for WordPress plugin <= 2.1.14 versions.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/12/2023
The CVE-2023-25065 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in the ShapedPlugin WP Tabs – Responsive Tabs Plugin for WordPress, affecting versions up to and including 2.1.14. This vulnerability exposes WordPress sites to unauthorized administrative actions that can be executed without user consent, fundamentally compromising the integrity of the web application's authentication mechanisms. The flaw specifically resides within the plugin's handling of HTTP requests, where proper CSRF protection measures are either absent or inadequately implemented, allowing malicious actors to exploit the weakness through crafted requests that appear legitimate to the target system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the plugin's failure to validate the origin of requests made to its administrative endpoints. In a typical CSRF attack scenario, an authenticated user visits a malicious website that contains embedded requests targeting the vulnerable WordPress installation. Without proper anti-CSRF token validation or referer header checks, the WordPress admin system processes these requests as legitimate actions initiated by the authenticated user. This flaw aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities, and represents a classic example of how insufficient input validation and missing security controls can lead to privilege escalation and unauthorized modifications. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects the plugin's administrative interface, potentially allowing attackers to modify tab configurations, add new tabs, or even manipulate the plugin's core functionality.
The operational impact of CVE-2023-25065 extends beyond simple data manipulation, as it can enable attackers to achieve persistent access and further compromise the WordPress environment. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could potentially modify the plugin's configuration files, inject malicious code into tabs, or even create new administrative users if the plugin's permissions are not properly restricted. The attack vector typically involves social engineering tactics where users are tricked into visiting malicious websites while logged into their WordPress admin panels, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where administrators frequently browse untrusted websites. According to ATT&CK framework category T1548.003, this vulnerability could facilitate privilege escalation by enabling attackers to perform administrative actions that should require explicit user consent, effectively bypassing the principle of least privilege and potentially leading to full system compromise.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-25065 should prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that have addressed the CSRF protection gaps, as ShapedPlugin has released patches to resolve this vulnerability. Organizations should also implement additional defensive measures including network-level restrictions on plugin administrative endpoints, implementation of web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious request patterns, and regular security auditing of WordPress installations to identify similar vulnerabilities in other plugins or themes. Security professionals should consider implementing Content Security Policy headers and ensuring that all administrative actions require proper authentication tokens, which would significantly reduce the attack surface for CSRF exploits. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of maintaining updated WordPress core installations and regularly reviewing plugin security practices, as many CSRF vulnerabilities stem from third-party components rather than the core WordPress platform itself. Organizations should conduct thorough penetration testing to verify that all administrative interfaces properly implement CSRF protection mechanisms and should monitor for any signs of exploitation attempts that might indicate successful compromise of the affected systems.