CVE-2023-3254 in Widgets for Google Reviews Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/25/2023
The Widgets for Google Reviews plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in versions up to, and including, 10.9. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation within setup_no_reg_header.php. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to reset plugin settings and remove reviews via a forged request granted they can trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/10/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-3254 affects the Widgets for Google Reviews plugin for WordPress, specifically targeting versions up to and including 10.9. This represents a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity and availability of WordPress sites utilizing this plugin. The vulnerability stems from insufficient security controls within the plugin's codebase, creating an exploitable condition that could allow malicious actors to manipulate plugin configurations and data without proper authentication.
The technical flaw manifests in the setup_no_reg_header.php file where nonce validation is either missing or improperly implemented. Nonces serve as critical security tokens that verify the authenticity of user actions and prevent unauthorized operations. When these tokens are absent or incorrectly validated, attackers can craft malicious requests that appear legitimate to the WordPress system. This weakness directly violates the principle of least privilege and authentication requirements that should protect administrative functions within web applications.
The operational impact of this CSRF vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to encompass complete compromise of plugin functionality and potential site integrity issues. An unauthenticated attacker can exploit this vulnerability to reset plugin settings, effectively disrupting the plugin's operation and potentially causing data loss or misconfiguration. More critically, the ability to remove reviews through forged requests can lead to reputational damage and loss of valuable user-generated content. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it requires only social engineering to exploit, as attackers need only trick administrators into clicking malicious links or visiting compromised pages.
The exploitability of this vulnerability aligns with the ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation and defense evasion techniques, where attackers leverage web application weaknesses to gain unauthorized access to administrative functions. This flaw demonstrates poor input validation practices and violates the CWE-352 principle of Cross-Site Request Forgery, which specifically addresses the need for proper authentication verification in web applications. Organizations running affected versions of this plugin face significant risk of unauthorized modifications to their Google Reviews displays and associated configuration settings.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patching of the plugin to the latest version where the nonce validation has been properly implemented. System administrators should also implement additional security measures such as monitoring for unusual plugin configuration changes and establishing strict access controls for WordPress administrative functions. Network-level protections including web application firewalls can provide additional layers of defense against CSRF attacks. Regular security audits of WordPress plugins should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities, and administrators should maintain awareness of security advisories from WordPress.org and plugin vendors to ensure timely remediation of discovered issues.