CVE-2024-33677 in Contact Form 7 Extension for Mailchimp Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/26/2024
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Renzo Johnson Contact Form 7 Extension For Mailchimp.This issue affects Contact Form 7 Extension For Mailchimp: from n/a through 0.5.70.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/03/2025
The Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-33677 resides within the Renzo Johnson Contact Form 7 Extension For Mailchimp plugin, representing a critical security weakness that undermines the integrity of web applications relying on this extension. This vulnerability specifically targets the plugin's handling of user requests and authentication mechanisms, creating an avenue for malicious actors to exploit the trust relationship between users and the web application. The affected version range spans from the initial release through version 0.5.70, indicating a prolonged period during which the plugin remained susceptible to this particular attack vector. The vulnerability's presence in this popular WordPress plugin extension demonstrates how third-party components can introduce significant security risks to otherwise secure web environments.
The technical flaw manifests in the plugin's inadequate validation of cross-site requests, failing to implement proper anti-CSRF tokens or sufficient request origin verification mechanisms. This weakness allows attackers to craft malicious requests that appear to originate from legitimate users, leveraging the authenticated session to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of victims. The vulnerability operates by exploiting the trust relationship that exists between the user's browser and the web application, where the application processes requests without sufficient verification of the request source. Attackers can potentially manipulate the plugin's functionality to submit forms or modify settings without the user's knowledge or consent, particularly when users are logged into the WordPress administration interface. The flaw directly relates to CWE-352, which categorizes Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities as those that permit unauthorized commands from a user who is authenticated to a web application.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation, as it can enable attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities within the scope of the plugin's functionality. An attacker could potentially submit spam or malicious form data to Mailchimp, compromise user data, or even escalate privileges within the WordPress environment. The vulnerability's exploitation could result in unauthorized email list modifications, data leakage through form submissions, or disruption of legitimate user workflows. Given that this plugin integrates with Mailchimp's email marketing services, the potential for data exfiltration or spam distribution increases significantly. The impact is particularly concerning in environments where users have administrative privileges, as the vulnerability could be leveraged to gain elevated access or cause more substantial damage to the overall system.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-33677 should prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that address the CSRF vulnerability, as this represents the most direct and effective solution. System administrators should implement additional security measures including the deployment of web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious cross-site requests, along with monitoring for unusual form submission patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The implementation of proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms should be enforced at the application level, ensuring that all state-changing operations require verification of the request origin and user intent. Organizations should also consider implementing Content Security Policy headers to limit the sources from which scripts can be loaded and executed, thereby reducing the attack surface for CSRF exploitation. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers social engineering tactics, as CSRF attacks often rely on user trust and can be executed through seemingly legitimate web interactions. Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in other plugins or components that might be susceptible to similar cross-site request forgery attacks.