CVE-2024-31372 in No-Bot Registration Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/12/2024
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Arnan de Gans No-Bot Registration.This issue affects No-Bot Registration: from n/a through 1.9.1.
Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/06/2025
The CVE-2024-31372 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the No-Bot Registration plugin for WordPress, a widely used anti-spam solution designed to prevent automated bot registrations. This vulnerability specifically impacts versions ranging from the initial release through 1.9.1, creating a significant security risk for WordPress sites that rely on this plugin for user registration protection. The flaw stems from the plugin's failure to implement proper anti-CSRF measures during the registration process, allowing malicious actors to exploit the system through carefully crafted requests that manipulate user sessions and registration flows. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1213.002 for data from information repositories, as it enables unauthorized modifications to user registration data.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability occurs when the plugin processes registration requests without validating the origin or authenticity of incoming requests. Attackers can craft malicious web pages or exploit existing XSS vulnerabilities to submit registration requests on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent. This flaw exploits the fundamental principle that web applications should verify the source of all requests, particularly those involving user account modifications or new user creation. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the application layer, targeting the registration workflow where users expect secure and authenticated interactions. The No-Bot Registration plugin's design appears to lack proper token validation mechanisms or referer checking that would normally prevent such attacks from succeeding.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized registrations, potentially allowing attackers to create multiple user accounts with elevated privileges or manipulate existing user data within the WordPress system. An attacker could exploit this weakness to flood a site with spam registrations, exhaust user limits, or potentially gain access to administrative functions if the plugin's registration process includes privilege escalation capabilities. The vulnerability affects WordPress sites that have not updated to the latest version of the plugin, leaving them exposed to automated attacks that could compromise the entire user management system. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous in environments where user registration is critical to business operations or where the plugin integrates with other security mechanisms that could be bypassed through unauthorized registration activities.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of the No-Bot Registration plugin to version 1.9.2 or later, which contains the necessary CSRF protection mechanisms. Administrators should also implement additional security layers including proper input validation, CSRF token generation for all registration forms, and monitoring for unusual registration patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers and proper referer validation can provide additional protection against such attacks. Organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their WordPress installations to identify other plugins that may be vulnerable to similar CSRF issues, as this represents a common weakness in web application security. Regular security updates and vulnerability scanning should be implemented as part of the overall security posture to prevent similar issues from affecting the WordPress ecosystem. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper security testing during plugin development and the necessity of implementing robust anti-CSRF measures in all web applications that process user data or authentication requests.