CVE-2024-23519 in Email Before Download Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 02/29/2024
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in M&S Consulting Email Before Download.This issue affects Email Before Download: from n/a through 6.9.7.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/18/2025
The Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-23519 resides within the M&S Consulting Email Before Download plugin, a widely used WordPress solution for email capture and lead generation. This vulnerability represents a critical security flaw that allows attackers to execute unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users who visit malicious websites or click on compromised links. The affected version range spans from the initial release through version 6.9.7, indicating a prolonged period during which this vulnerability remained unaddressed. The issue manifests when the plugin fails to properly validate and verify the origin of HTTP requests, creating an avenue for malicious actors to exploit the trust relationship between the user's browser and the targeted website.
The technical exploitation of this CSRF vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of HTTP requests that are automatically sent from a user's browser to the vulnerable plugin's endpoint. When a user is authenticated to a website running the affected plugin, an attacker can craft a malicious website that includes hidden forms or JavaScript code designed to submit requests to the plugin's administrative functions. These requests appear legitimate to the server because they contain valid session cookies and authentication tokens, allowing the attacker to perform actions such as modifying email capture settings, deleting entries, or potentially escalating privileges within the plugin's administrative interface. The vulnerability directly maps to CWE-352, which defines Cross-Site Request Forgery as a weakness where the application does not adequately validate the source of requests, enabling unauthorized operations to be performed on behalf of legitimate users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation, as it can potentially compromise the integrity and confidentiality of email capture data that organizations rely upon for marketing and customer relationship management. Attackers could exploit this flaw to disrupt email capture functionality, alter lead generation processes, or even gain unauthorized access to sensitive user information collected through the plugin. The vulnerability affects any website that implements the Email Before Download plugin and has authenticated users who may inadvertently visit malicious sites, making it particularly dangerous in environments where users frequently browse the internet or interact with third-party content. The attack vector is particularly insidious because it requires no sophisticated technical knowledge from the attacker, making it a common target for automated exploitation campaigns and increasing the potential for widespread impact across multiple organizations.
Organizations utilizing the affected plugin must implement immediate mitigations to protect their systems from exploitation. The most effective approach involves implementing robust CSRF protection mechanisms such as anti-CSRF tokens that are generated per session and validated with each request to ensure that the request originated from the legitimate user interface rather than a malicious third-party site. The WordPress plugin development community recommends that all plugins implementing administrative functions should incorporate proper request validation and origin checking, which aligns with the ATT&CK framework's mitigation strategies for web application attacks. Additionally, administrators should ensure that all WordPress installations are updated to the latest version of the plugin as soon as patches are released, and implement network-level protections such as web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious request patterns. Regular security audits of installed plugins and comprehensive user education about the dangers of visiting untrusted websites should also be part of the overall security posture to minimize the risk of successful exploitation.