CVE-2023-7125 in Community Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 01/16/2024
The Community by PeepSo WordPress plugin before 6.3.1.2 does not have CSRF check when creating a user post (visible on their wall in their profile page), which could allow attackers to make logged in users perform such action via a CSRF attack
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/17/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-7125 affects the Community by PeepSo WordPress plugin version 6.3.1.1 and earlier, representing a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity of user interactions within the platform. This issue stems from the absence of proper Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) protection mechanisms when processing user post creation requests that appear on profile walls. The flaw allows malicious actors to exploit the trust relationship between authenticated users and the plugin's backend services, potentially enabling unauthorized actions to be executed on behalf of legitimate users without their knowledge or consent.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the plugin's user post creation endpoint which fails to validate the authenticity of requests originating from the intended user interface. Specifically, when a logged-in user interacts with the plugin's wall functionality to create posts, the system does not verify that the request was genuinely initiated by the authenticated user through legitimate means. This omission creates a pathway for attackers to craft malicious web pages or emails containing embedded links or scripts that, when clicked by an authenticated user, automatically submit requests to the plugin's post creation handler. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which categorizes Cross-Site Request Forgery as a weakness that allows attackers to perform actions on behalf of a user without their knowledge, and corresponds to ATT&CK technique T1566.001 which describes the use of spearphishing attachments to gain initial access and execute malicious code.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation, as it enables attackers to potentially spread malicious content, deface user profiles, or manipulate the social graph within the plugin's community features. An attacker could leverage this flaw to create spam posts, inject malicious links, or even propagate malware through user interactions, particularly since the affected functionality is visible on public profile pages. The consequences are amplified by the nature of social plugins where user-generated content is central to the platform's functionality, making the exploitation of such vulnerabilities particularly damaging to both individual user experiences and community integrity. The vulnerability affects all authenticated users who have access to the plugin's wall posting functionality, potentially compromising hundreds or thousands of user accounts depending on the size of the community.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-7125 require immediate action to upgrade the Community by PeepSo plugin to version 6.3.1.2 or later, which includes the necessary CSRF protection mechanisms. Administrators should also implement additional security measures such as monitoring for unusual posting patterns or unauthorized content creation within user profiles, and consider implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious CSRF attack patterns. The fix typically involves implementing proper CSRF token validation where each user interaction requires a unique, time-limited token that verifies the request origin and prevents unauthorized actions. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive security assessments of their WordPress installations to identify other plugins or themes that may be susceptible to similar vulnerabilities, as CSRF protections are often inconsistently implemented across different components of web applications. Regular security updates and patch management processes should be reinforced to ensure that such vulnerabilities are addressed promptly before they can be exploited in the wild.