CVE-2024-56251 in Event Espresso 4 Decaf Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 01/02/2025
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Event Espresso Event Espresso 4 Decaf allows Cross Site Request Forgery.This issue affects Event Espresso 4 Decaf: from n/a through 5.0.28.decaf.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/16/2025
This Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerability in Event Espresso 4 Decaf represents a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity of web application authentication mechanisms. The vulnerability exists within the event management system's handling of user requests, where proper CSRF protection measures are either absent or insufficiently implemented. Attackers can exploit this weakness to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent, potentially leading to data manipulation, account compromise, or system disruption.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to validate the origin of HTTP requests, particularly those involving state-changing operations within the Event Espresso 4 Decaf framework. This flaw allows malicious actors to craft specially crafted requests that appear legitimate to the web application but are actually initiated by unauthorized third parties. The vulnerability affects all versions from the initial release through 5.0.28.decaf, indicating a prolonged period during which the system was exposed to potential exploitation. The absence of proper anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms means that legitimate users' sessions can be hijacked or manipulated through carefully constructed cross-site requests.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or manipulation, as it fundamentally compromises the trust model of the Event Espresso platform. An attacker could potentially create, modify, or delete events, change user permissions, or access sensitive administrative functions without proper authorization. This represents a significant risk to event organizers and administrators who rely on the platform for critical business operations. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations that depend on Event Espresso for managing conferences, workshops, or other organized events where unauthorized modifications could disrupt scheduling, financial transactions, or attendee management. The exploitation of this flaw could lead to reputational damage, regulatory compliance issues, and potential financial losses for affected organizations.
Organizations utilizing Event Espresso 4 Decaf should immediately implement mitigations including the deployment of anti-CSRF tokens for all state-changing operations, implementation of proper referer header validation, and consideration of SameSite cookie attributes. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery issues in web applications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and session management manipulation, potentially enabling adversaries to move laterally within affected systems. Regular security updates and patch management should be prioritized, while organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious request patterns that may indicate CSRF attack attempts. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing to ensure that all user-facing operations properly validate request authenticity and that the application maintains proper session integrity throughout all interactions.