CVE-2023-5602 in Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/25/2023
The Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.5. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on several functions corresponding to AJAX actions. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to invoke those actions 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-2023-5602 affects the Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons plugin for WordPress, a widely used tool that enables websites to display social media sharing buttons. This plugin version 2.8.5 and earlier contains a critical cross-site request forgery vulnerability that compromises the security of WordPress installations. The flaw exists in the plugin's handling of AJAX actions, which are asynchronous JavaScript operations commonly used to update content without requiring full page reloads. The vulnerability stems from inadequate nonce validation mechanisms that should verify the authenticity of requests before executing sensitive operations. Attackers can exploit this weakness to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of administrators, potentially leading to complete compromise of affected websites.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the absence of proper nonce validation within the plugin's AJAX handling functions. Nonces, or number used once, are cryptographic tokens that ensure requests originate from legitimate sources and have not been tampered with during transmission. In this case, the plugin fails to validate these security tokens when processing AJAX requests, allowing malicious actors to craft forged requests that appear legitimate to the WordPress system. The vulnerability specifically impacts functions that handle social media button configurations, sharing settings, and other administrative operations. According to CWE-352, this represents a classic cross-site request forgery vulnerability where the attacker can manipulate the victim's browser to perform unintended actions without their knowledge or consent.
The operational impact of CVE-2023-5602 is significant for WordPress administrators who rely on this plugin for their social sharing functionality. An unauthenticated attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute arbitrary actions on behalf of administrators, potentially including modifying plugin settings, adding malicious social sharing buttons, or even changing user permissions. The attack requires social engineering to trick administrators into clicking malicious links, but once successful, the consequences can be severe. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it can be exploited by attackers who do not need to authenticate to the WordPress admin panel, making it a low-barrier entry point for malicious activities. This type of attack pattern aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.002, which involves phishing attacks targeting administrators through crafted links.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability include immediate plugin updates to version 2.8.6 or later, which contain the necessary nonce validation fixes. Administrators should also implement additional security measures such as restricting access to administrative functions through IP whitelisting, implementing multi-factor authentication, and monitoring for unusual administrative activities. Regular security audits of installed plugins should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other third-party components. The WordPress community should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious AJAX requests. Organizations using this plugin should review their current security configurations and ensure that proper access controls are in place to minimize the potential impact of such vulnerabilities. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation and authentication mechanisms in web applications, particularly those handling administrative functions.