CVE-2023-47237 in Auto Publish for Google My Business Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 11/09/2023
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Martin Gibson Auto Publish for Google My Business plugin <= 3.7 versions.
If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/20/2025
The CVE-2023-47237 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the Martin Gibson Auto Publish for Google My Business WordPress plugin, affecting all versions up to and including 3.7. This vulnerability resides in the plugin's handling of administrative requests and exposes the affected WordPress installation to unauthorized actions that can be executed without user consent. The flaw specifically impacts the plugin's administrative interfaces where it fails to implement proper anti-CSRF protection mechanisms, allowing malicious actors to craft requests that appear to originate from legitimate administrative users.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of anti-CSRF tokens in the plugin's administrative forms and API endpoints. When administrators perform actions such as publishing business information or modifying plugin settings, the requests lack sufficient validation to verify their authenticity. The vulnerability manifests when a malicious actor constructs a crafted request that exploits the trust relationship between the WordPress admin interface and the affected plugin, enabling unauthorized modifications to business listings or configuration parameters. This flaw aligns with CWE-352, which categorizes cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities as those that permit unauthorized commands from a user that the web application believes to be authenticated.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data modification, as it can enable attackers to compromise the integrity of Google My Business listings and potentially manipulate business information that appears in search results. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to publish false business information, alter contact details, or even redirect traffic to malicious destinations by manipulating the Google My Business integration. The threat landscape is particularly concerning given that Google My Business listings are critical for local search visibility and business reputation management, making this vulnerability attractive to cybercriminals seeking to exploit local business marketing channels.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate attention from affected administrators, beginning with the urgent upgrade to the patched version of the Martin Gibson Auto Publish plugin. The remediation process should include implementing proper CSRF token validation mechanisms throughout all administrative interfaces and API endpoints within the plugin. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security measures such as role-based access controls, regular security audits of WordPress plugins, and monitoring for unauthorized administrative activities. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to technique T1548.003 (Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism) and T1071.001 (Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols) as attackers can leverage the compromised administrative functionality to execute unauthorized operations. The vulnerability also aligns with the principle of least privilege violations, as the flaw allows attackers to perform administrative actions without proper authentication mechanisms. Security teams should implement network monitoring to detect suspicious patterns in API requests and consider deploying web application firewalls to help detect and block malicious CSRF attempts targeting the affected plugin.