CVE-2024-39623 in ListingPro Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 01/02/2025
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in CridioStudio ListingPro allows Authentication Bypass.This issue affects ListingPro: from n/a through 2.9.4.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/07/2025
The CVE-2024-39623 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the CridioStudio ListingPro WordPress plugin, specifically impacting versions ranging from unspecified initial release through 2.9.4. This vulnerability operates as a authentication bypass mechanism that fundamentally undermines the security controls designed to protect user sessions and administrative functions. The flaw enables malicious actors to execute unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent, creating a significant risk to system integrity and user data protection. The vulnerability resides in the plugin's handling of request validation mechanisms, where proper csrf token verification is either absent or inadequately implemented.
The technical implementation of this csrf vulnerability stems from the absence of proper request origin validation and anti-csrf token mechanisms within the plugin's administrative interfaces. When users access the ListingPro plugin administration panel, the system should verify that incoming requests originate from legitimate sources and contain valid authentication tokens. However, the flaw allows attackers to craft malicious requests that appear to come from authenticated users, effectively circumventing the standard authentication flow. This weakness specifically impacts the plugin's ability to distinguish between authorized and unauthorized requests, creating a pathway for privilege escalation and unauthorized administrative actions. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which defines cross-site request forgery as a weakness where the application fails to validate that requests originate from the same origin as the web application.
The operational impact of CVE-2024-39623 extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it enables attackers to perform critical administrative functions such as modifying user permissions, altering content, deleting listings, and potentially accessing sensitive data. This authentication bypass capability allows threat actors to operate within the plugin's administrative environment without requiring valid credentials, making the attack surface particularly dangerous for websites relying on ListingPro for business listings and user management. The vulnerability can be exploited through various attack vectors including phishing campaigns, compromised websites, or social engineering techniques that lure users into clicking malicious links. The impact is exacerbated by the fact that the vulnerability affects multiple versions of the plugin, indicating a persistent flaw in the codebase that has not been properly addressed in the affected releases.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that address the csrf implementation gaps, as recommended by the vendor and security advisories. Organizations should implement additional defensive measures including the deployment of web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious request patterns, the enforcement of proper csrf token validation across all administrative endpoints, and the implementation of origin validation checks. Security teams should also consider restricting administrative access through network-level controls, implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts, and conducting comprehensive security audits of all installed plugins to identify similar vulnerabilities. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1548.005, which covers abuse of credentials and privilege escalation, highlighting the need for layered security approaches that prevent unauthorized access and limit the impact of successful exploitation attempts.