CVE-2024-39679 in Cooked Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 07/18/2024
Cooked is a recipe plugin for WordPress. The Cooked plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in versions up to, and including, 1.7.15.4 due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the AJAX action handler. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to trick users into performing an action they didn't intend to perform under their current authentication. This issue has been addressed in release version 1.8.0. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/17/2025
The Cooked WordPress plugin vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery weakness that undermines the security integrity of affected installations. This vulnerability specifically affects versions up to and including 1.7.15.4 of the plugin, which is designed to manage recipe content and functionality within WordPress environments. The flaw manifests in the plugin's AJAX action handler where proper nonce validation mechanisms are either absent or incorrectly implemented, creating a pathway for malicious actors to exploit user sessions and execute unauthorized actions.
From a technical perspective, the vulnerability stems from the absence of proper cryptographic token validation within the plugin's AJAX processing endpoints. Nonces serve as one-time tokens that verify the authenticity of requests and ensure that actions are intentionally performed by authenticated users. When these tokens are missing or improperly validated, attackers can craft malicious requests that appear legitimate to the WordPress system, exploiting the trust relationship between the user's browser and the targeted website. This weakness directly maps to CWE-352, which classifies cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities as a fundamental web application security flaw.
The operational impact of this CSRF vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation, potentially allowing attackers to perform critical administrative functions within the affected WordPress installations. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to modify recipe content, alter user permissions, or even execute destructive operations that compromise the entire website's integrity. The attack vector requires minimal user interaction, typically involving social engineering tactics to convince victims to visit malicious websites or click on compromised links while authenticated to their WordPress sites. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where multiple users have administrative privileges or where the plugin is widely used across organizations.
Security professionals should recognize this vulnerability as a prime example of how seemingly minor implementation flaws can create significant security risks in content management systems. The vulnerability's classification aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566, which describes social engineering tactics used to manipulate users into performing actions that compromise their systems. The fix implemented in version 1.8.0 demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and authentication checks in web applications. Organizations using the Cooked plugin must prioritize immediate upgrade to version 1.8.0 or later, as no viable workarounds exist for this particular vulnerability. The lack of mitigation options underscores the critical nature of this flaw and emphasizes the necessity of maintaining current software versions to protect against known security threats in WordPress environments.