CVE-2026-104407 in PowerPress Podcasting Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/05/2026
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Blubrry Podcasting PowerPress Podcasting powerpress allows Cross Site Request Forgery.This issue affects PowerPress Podcasting: from n/a through 11.17.9.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/05/2026
The identified security flaw represents a classic Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability within the Blubrry Podcasting PowerPress plugin, specifically affecting versions ranging from initial releases up to version 11.17.9. This type of attack exploits the trust that a web application has in the user's browser by tricking an authenticated user into executing unwanted actions on behalf of the attacker without their consent. In the context of WordPress plugins like PowerPress, which manage podcast publishing settings and media uploads, such vulnerabilities can lead to significant administrative compromise if not properly mitigated through robust request validation mechanisms.
From a technical perspective, CSRF attacks rely on the fact that many web applications use cookies or other authentication tokens stored in the browser to maintain session state without requiring explicit re-authentication for every action. When an attacker constructs a malicious webpage containing requests designed to interact with the vulnerable PowerPress application, any user currently logged into their WordPress dashboard and visiting this page will have those requests executed automatically by their browser. The vulnerability typically stems from a lack of anti-CSRF tokens or insufficient verification of the request origin header in critical state-changing endpoints managed by the plugin. This allows an attacker to forge requests that modify podcast settings, alter media metadata, or potentially delete content, depending on the specific functionality exposed within the affected version range.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial for site administrators and content creators who rely on PowerPress for their podcasting infrastructure. An successful exploitation could allow a malicious actor to change critical configuration parameters such as feed URLs, category assignments, or monetization settings without authorization. In more severe scenarios, depending on the specific endpoints affected, it might enable unauthorized media uploads or deletions, leading to data integrity issues and potential service disruption for listeners. Since WordPress administrators often have elevated privileges that extend beyond just podcast management, a compromised session could theoretically be leveraged in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to gain deeper access to the underlying server environment, although the primary risk here remains focused on the application-level manipulation of podcasting features.
To address this vulnerability and align with industry standards such as CWE-352 which defines Cross-Site Request Forgery, developers must implement strict anti-CSRF protections in all state-changing operations within the plugin codebase. This includes generating unique, unpredictable tokens per session that are validated on every POST request modifying application state. Additionally, implementing checks for the Origin and Referer headers can provide an additional layer of defense by ensuring requests originate from expected domains. For users currently running affected versions, immediate mitigation involves updating to a patched version of PowerPress where these security controls have been reinforced. Until an update is applied, administrators should consider restricting access to WordPress admin areas through IP whitelisting or multi-factor authentication to reduce the attack surface available for session hijacking and subsequent CSRF exploitation attempts as categorized under MITRE ATT&CK technique T1078 which involves valid accounts being used by adversaries.