CVE-2025-23690 in Book a Place Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 01/16/2025
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in ArtkanMedia Book a Place allows Stored XSS.This issue affects Book a Place: from n/a through 0.7.1.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/10/2025
The CVE-2025-23690 vulnerability represents a critical security flaw in the ArtkanMedia Book a Place plugin that combines cross-site request forgery with stored cross-site scripting capabilities. This vulnerability exists within the plugin's handling of user input and authentication mechanisms, creating a dangerous attack vector that can be exploited by malicious actors to execute arbitrary code within the context of authenticated users. The vulnerability affects versions ranging from the initial release through version 0.7.1, indicating a long-standing issue that has persisted across multiple iterations of the software. The combination of CSRF and XSS in a single vulnerability demonstrates the complexity of modern web application security threats where a single flaw can enable multiple attack vectors.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate validation and sanitization of user-supplied data within the plugin's form processing and data storage mechanisms. When users submit requests through the booking system, the application fails to properly verify the authenticity of the request origin and does not adequately sanitize input before storing it in the database. This stored data can then be retrieved and executed in the context of other users' browsers, creating a persistent XSS vulnerability that can be triggered whenever affected pages are loaded. The CSRF aspect allows attackers to craft malicious requests that appear to originate from legitimate users, bypassing standard authentication checks while the stored XSS component executes malicious scripts in the victim's browser.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, affecting both the confidentiality and integrity of the affected system. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, modify booking data, or even escalate privileges within the application. The stored nature of the XSS means that the malicious payload persists even after the initial attack, continuously affecting all users who view the compromised content. This vulnerability can be particularly damaging in environments where the booking system handles sensitive personal information, financial data, or critical scheduling information, as it provides attackers with persistent access to these resources. The vulnerability also undermines user trust in the application and can lead to significant reputational damage for organizations relying on the plugin.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should address both the CSRF and XSS components through comprehensive defensive measures. The implementation of proper anti-CSRF tokens within all state-changing requests, combined with robust input validation and output encoding, forms the primary defense strategy. Organizations should ensure that all user-supplied data undergoes strict sanitization before being stored, utilizing context-appropriate encoding techniques such as HTML entity encoding for output contexts. Additionally, implementing proper Content Security Policy headers can provide an additional layer of protection against XSS attacks by restricting the sources from which scripts can be loaded. Regular security audits and input validation testing should be conducted to prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in future versions of the software. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352 for CSRF and CWE-79 for XSS, representing a classic example of how multiple vulnerability types can compound to create more severe security risks. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a technique involving web application exploitation and persistent threat delivery, emphasizing the need for layered security approaches that address both authentication bypass and client-side code execution vulnerabilities.