CVE-2023-47244 in Email Marketing for WooCommerce Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 11/23/2023
Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerability in Omnisend Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend.This issue affects Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend: from n/a through 1.13.8.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/06/2023
The vulnerability CVE-2023-47244 represents a critical exposure of sensitive information to unauthorized actors within the Omnisend Email Marketing for WooCommerce plugin. This security flaw exists in versions prior to 1.13.8 and specifically impacts the plugin's handling of sensitive data during email marketing operations. The vulnerability arises from inadequate access controls and improper data sanitization mechanisms within the plugin's codebase, creating potential pathways for malicious actors to gain unauthorized access to customer information and marketing data. Such exposure poses significant risks to e-commerce businesses relying on the plugin for their email marketing campaigns and customer communication strategies.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding practices within the plugin's backend processing functions. Attackers can exploit this weakness to retrieve sensitive information including customer email addresses, personal details, and potentially transactional data through manipulated API requests or direct access to plugin endpoints. The flaw operates at the application layer and typically requires minimal privileges to exploit, making it particularly dangerous for environments where the plugin is widely used. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-200, which specifically addresses the exposure of sensitive information to unauthorized actors, and represents a clear violation of data protection principles outlined in various cybersecurity frameworks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data leakage to encompass potential business disruption and regulatory compliance violations. Organizations using affected versions of the plugin face risks of customer data breaches, loss of consumer trust, and potential legal consequences under data protection regulations such as gdpr and ccpa. The exposure could enable attackers to conduct targeted phishing campaigns, perform social engineering attacks, or sell stolen customer data on dark web marketplaces. Additionally, the vulnerability may facilitate further attack vectors as compromised customer information could be used to launch more sophisticated attacks against the affected organization's infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-47244 primarily focus on immediate plugin updates to version 1.13.8 or later, which contain the necessary security patches to address the sensitive information exposure. Organizations should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments of their WooCommerce installations to identify all instances of the affected plugin and ensure proper patch management protocols are in place. Security teams should implement network monitoring to detect unusual access patterns and data exfiltration attempts, while also reviewing access logs for any suspicious activities related to the plugin. Additional defensive measures include implementing web application firewalls, restricting API access through authentication controls, and conducting regular security audits of third-party plugins to maintain overall system integrity and protect against similar vulnerabilities.