CVE-2024-9709 in EKC Tournament Manager Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 05/16/2025
The EKC Tournament Manager WordPress plugin before 2.2.2 does not have CSRF check in place when updating its settings, which could allow attackers to make a logged in admin change them via a CSRF attack
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/16/2025
The EKC Tournament Manager WordPress plugin version 2.2.1 and earlier contains a critical security vulnerability classified as a Cross-Site Request Forgery flaw that compromises the integrity of administrative functions. This vulnerability stems from the absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms within the plugin's settings update functionality, creating an exploitable condition that allows authenticated attackers to manipulate administrative configurations without proper authorization. The flaw specifically affects the plugin's ability to validate the authenticity of requests originating from legitimate administrative users versus malicious actors who might attempt to hijack administrative sessions.
This vulnerability operates at the application layer and directly impacts the WordPress plugin ecosystem by exploiting the fundamental principle of request validation. The plugin fails to implement proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms, which are essential for verifying that requests originate from legitimate administrative users. The absence of such protections creates a scenario where an attacker could craft malicious web pages or emails containing embedded requests that, when executed by an authenticated administrator, would modify the plugin's configuration settings without the administrator's knowledge or consent. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it requires no special privileges beyond administrative access to exploit, making it a significant risk for WordPress installations that rely on this plugin for tournament management operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple configuration changes and could potentially compromise the entire tournament management system. Attackers could modify critical settings such as tournament registration parameters, scoring systems, participant eligibility rules, or even disable essential plugin functionalities. The vulnerability affects the availability and integrity of the plugin's core services, potentially disrupting tournament operations and creating data inconsistencies that could affect participant registrations, scoring accuracy, or overall system reliability. From a security perspective, this flaw represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege and could enable attackers to escalate their privileges or establish persistent access patterns within the WordPress environment.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery conditions in software applications, and demonstrates a clear failure in implementing proper request validation mechanisms. The flaw also maps to ATT&CK technique T1078.004 which covers legitimate credentials in the context of privilege escalation and persistence. Organizations using this plugin should immediately implement mitigations including updating to version 2.2.2 or later, which contains the necessary CSRF protection mechanisms. Additional defensive measures include implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious request patterns, conducting regular security audits of WordPress plugins, and ensuring that administrative users employ multi-factor authentication to add additional layers of protection. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation and request authentication in web applications, particularly those handling sensitive operational data within enterprise environments.