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Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

CVE-2012-1936

Medium
6.8/10

Summary

The wp_create_nonce function in wp-includes/pluggable.php in WordPress 3.3.1 and earlier associates a nonce with a user account instead of a user session, which might make it easier for remote attackers to conduct cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks on specific actions and objects by sniffing the network, as demonstrated by attacks against the wp-admin/admin-ajax.php and wp-admin/user-new.php scripts. NOTE: the vendor reportedly disputes the significance of this issue because wp_create_nonce operates as intended, even if it is arguably inconsistent with certain CSRF protection details advocated by external organizations

  • MEDIUM
  • NETWORK
  • NONE
  • PARTIAL
  • PARTIAL
  • PARTIAL

CWE-352 - Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) is a vulnerability that allows an attacker to make arbitrary requests in an authenticated vulnerable web application and disrupt the integrity of the victim’s session. The impact of a successful CSRF attack may range from minor to severe, depending upon the capabilities exposed by the vulnerable application and privileges of the user. An attacker may force the user to perform state-changing requests like transferring funds, changing their email address or password etc. However, if an administrative level account is affected, it may compromise the whole web application and associated sensitive data.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published