CVE-2024-31293 in Easy Digital Downloads Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/12/2024
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Easy Digital Downloads.This issue affects Easy Digital Downloads: from n/a through 3.2.6.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/06/2025
The Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-31293 represents a critical security flaw within the Easy Digital Downloads plugin ecosystem, which is widely utilized for digital commerce operations on wordpress platforms. This vulnerability specifically impacts versions ranging from the initial release through 3.2.6, creating a persistent threat vector that has affected numerous online stores and service providers relying on this plugin for their digital product sales infrastructure. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation mechanisms that fail to properly authenticate and authorize user requests originating from external domains, thereby enabling malicious actors to exploit the trust relationship between the web application and its users.
The technical implementation of this CSRF flaw manifests through the absence of proper anti-forgery tokens or similar protective measures within the plugin's request handling mechanisms. When users navigate to malicious websites or receive crafted email attachments containing embedded requests, the vulnerable plugin fails to verify that these requests originate from legitimate administrative sessions. This weakness allows attackers to perform unauthorized actions such as modifying product configurations, processing fraudulent transactions, or manipulating user account settings without proper authorization. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and specifically targets the plugin's administrative interfaces where sensitive operations are conducted, making it particularly dangerous for e-commerce environments where financial transactions and user data management occur.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to encompass potential financial losses, data breaches, and reputational damage for affected organizations. Attackers can exploit this weakness to execute unauthorized transactions, modify pricing structures, or gain unauthorized access to customer databases, potentially leading to significant monetary losses and compliance violations. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple versions indicates a fundamental design flaw in the plugin's security architecture that required ongoing patching efforts to address. Organizations utilizing Easy Digital Downloads must consider the broader implications of this vulnerability within their overall security posture, particularly in environments where administrative access is frequently used or where users may encounter untrusted web content.
Security practitioners should implement immediate mitigations including the deployment of web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious cross-origin requests, along with mandatory implementation of proper CSRF token validation mechanisms. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in software applications. From an attacker perspective, this vulnerability maps to multiple ATT&CK techniques including T1566 for initial access through malicious web content and T1078 for valid accounts usage once the attack is successful. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts, regular security audits of third-party plugins, and monitoring for unauthorized administrative activities. The remediation process requires immediate updates to the plugin to version 3.2.7 or later, along with comprehensive security testing to ensure that no other related vulnerabilities exist within the same plugin ecosystem or related administrative interfaces.