CVE-2023-51354 in Appointment & Event Booking Calendar Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 12/29/2023
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in WebbaPlugins Appointment & Event Booking Calendar Plugin – Webba Booking.This issue affects Appointment & Event Booking Calendar Plugin – Webba Booking: from n/a through 4.5.33.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/21/2024
The Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-51354 resides within the WebbaPlugins Appointment & Event Booking Calendar Plugin, specifically impacting versions through 4.5.33. This vulnerability represents a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity of web applications by exploiting the trust relationship between web applications and their users. The issue manifests when legitimate requests are executed without proper authorization from the user, allowing malicious actors to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users. The vulnerability affects the plugin's handling of user interactions and form submissions, creating potential entry points for attackers to manipulate the booking system. This type of vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and can result in unauthorized modifications to calendar events, booking records, and user data within the affected system.
The technical implementation flaw stems from the absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms within the plugin's request processing logic. Specifically, the plugin fails to validate the origin of requests or implement anti-CSRF tokens that would ensure requests originate from legitimate sources within the same site. This omission creates a scenario where attackers can craft malicious requests that appear to come from authenticated users, leveraging the browser's automatic credential handling to execute unauthorized operations. The vulnerability typically occurs when the plugin processes form submissions or API calls without verifying that the request contains valid anti-CSRF tokens or proper referer headers. According to CWE-352, this represents a classic Cross-Site Request Forgery weakness where the application does not adequately validate the source of HTTP requests, allowing attackers to perform actions without user consent or knowledge.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to potentially compromise entire booking systems and user privacy. Attackers could exploit this flaw to create unauthorized appointments, modify existing bookings, cancel reservations, or access sensitive user information stored within the calendar plugin. The consequences are particularly severe in environments where the booking system manages sensitive data such as medical appointments, legal consultations, or other time-sensitive services. The vulnerability also poses risks to business continuity, as unauthorized modifications could disrupt scheduling operations or create fraudulent entries that might be difficult to detect. From an attacker's perspective, this vulnerability provides a straightforward path to exploit the plugin's functionality, requiring minimal technical expertise to implement successful attacks. The impact is further amplified by the fact that the vulnerability affects a widely used plugin, potentially exposing numerous websites to exploitation.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-51354 should prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that address the CSRF vulnerability, as provided by the vendor. Organizations must implement robust anti-CSRF token mechanisms that are generated for each user session and validated on every state-changing request. The implementation should follow established security frameworks such as those recommended in the OWASP CSRF Prevention Cheat Sheet, which emphasizes the use of unique tokens for each user session and proper validation of request origins. Additional protective measures include implementing Content Security Policy headers, enforcing proper referer validation, and ensuring that all forms and API endpoints require explicit user confirmation before processing changes. Organizations should also conduct thorough security assessments of their web applications to identify other potential CSRF vulnerabilities within their systems. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1566, specifically targeting the exploitation of web application vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access, making it a critical concern for organizations implementing security controls against such attack vectors. Regular security monitoring and automated vulnerability scanning should be implemented to detect similar issues in other plugins and web applications within the organization's infrastructure.