CVE-2023-51489 in Crowdsignal Dashboard Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 03/16/2024
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Automattic, Inc. Crowdsignal Dashboard – Polls, Surveys & more.This issue affects Crowdsignal Dashboard – Polls, Surveys & more: from n/a through 3.0.11.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/27/2025
The CVE-2023-51489 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the Crowdsignal Dashboard plugin developed by Automattic, Inc. This plugin, which facilitates the creation and management of polls, surveys, and related interactive content, has been identified as susceptible to CSRF attacks affecting versions prior to 3.0.12. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of request origins and lack of proper anti-CSRF token implementation within the plugin's administrative interfaces. Attackers can exploit this weakness to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users who visit malicious websites or are tricked into clicking harmful links. The flaw specifically impacts the plugin's ability to distinguish between legitimate administrative requests and forged requests originating from external domains, creating a significant security risk for WordPress sites utilizing this particular plugin.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability manifests through the absence of proper request validation mechanisms within the plugin's administrative endpoints. When users access the Crowdsignal Dashboard admin interface, the plugin fails to adequately verify that incoming requests originate from legitimate sources within the same origin domain. This weakness allows attackers to craft malicious requests that, when executed by authenticated users, can modify plugin settings, create new polls or surveys, or manipulate existing content without the user's knowledge or consent. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and leverages the trust relationship between the web application and the user's browser, making it particularly dangerous as it requires no authentication credentials from the attacker's perspective. The flaw aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities in web applications. From an attack perspective, this vulnerability can be classified under ATT&CK technique T1566.001, which involves the exploitation of web applications through various injection and manipulation techniques.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to potentially compromise the integrity and confidentiality of user-generated content within WordPress installations. Attackers could leverage this CSRF vulnerability to inject malicious content into polls and surveys, manipulate survey results, or even gain persistent access to administrative functions through the compromised plugin interface. The affected versions range from the initial release through 3.0.11, indicating a prolonged period during which users were exposed to this risk without proper mitigation. Organizations utilizing WordPress sites with the Crowdsignal Dashboard plugin face potential reputational damage, data integrity issues, and possible unauthorized modifications to their interactive content. The vulnerability particularly affects websites that rely heavily on user-generated polls and surveys, as these platforms become vulnerable to manipulation and data corruption. The risk is amplified when considering that many WordPress installations may not have robust monitoring in place to detect unauthorized modifications to polling and survey data.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-51489 primarily involve immediate plugin version updates to 3.0.12 or later, which contain the necessary patches to address the CSRF implementation gaps. Administrators should conduct comprehensive security audits of their WordPress installations to identify all instances of the vulnerable plugin and ensure proper patch management protocols are in place. Additional protective measures include implementing Content Security Policy headers to limit cross-origin requests, enabling two-factor authentication for administrative accounts, and monitoring access logs for suspicious activity patterns. Network administrators should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block malicious CSRF attempts targeting the affected plugin endpoints. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining current security practices and regular plugin updates as part of comprehensive cybersecurity frameworks. Organizations should also establish incident response procedures specifically tailored to address CSRF vulnerabilities and consider implementing automated vulnerability scanning tools that can identify outdated or vulnerable plugins within their WordPress environments. Proper security configuration management and regular security assessments help prevent exploitation of similar vulnerabilities in other components of the WordPress ecosystem.