CVE-2023-31093
📋 TL;DR
This CSRF vulnerability in the Chronosly Events Calendar WordPress plugin allows attackers to trick authenticated administrators into performing unintended actions. Attackers can create malicious requests that modify plugin settings or content when an admin visits a compromised page. All WordPress sites using vulnerable plugin versions are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- WordPress Chronosly Events Calendar plugin
📦 What is this software?
Chronosly Events Calendar by Chronosly Events Calendar Project
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete site takeover through privilege escalation, data manipulation, or injection of malicious code that affects all visitors.
Likely Case
Unauthorized modification of event data, plugin settings, or injection of malicious content visible to site visitors.
If Mitigated
No impact if proper CSRF tokens and same-origin policies are implemented and enforced.
🎯 Exploit Status
CSRF attacks are well-understood and easy to weaponize. Exploit requires tricking authenticated admin into clicking malicious link.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: > 2.6.2
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find Chronosly Events Calendar. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. Alternatively, download latest version from WordPress repository and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement CSRF Protection Middleware
allAdd custom WordPress filter to validate nonce tokens for all Chronosly plugin requests
Add to theme's functions.php or custom plugin: add_action('init', 'chronosly_csrf_protection'); function chronosly_csrf_protection() { if (isset($_POST['chronosly_action']) && !wp_verify_nonce($_POST['_wpnonce'], 'chronosly_nonce')) { wp_die('Security check failed'); } }
Temporary Plugin Deactivation
linuxDisable vulnerable plugin until patch can be applied
wp plugin deactivate chronosly-events-calendar
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict script execution
- Use browser extensions that block CSRF attempts and educate admins about phishing risks
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Installed Plugins for Chronosly Events Calendar version <= 2.6.2Check Version:
wp plugin get chronosly-events-calendar --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm plugin version is > 2.6.2 in WordPress admin panel and test admin functions with invalid nonce tokens📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple failed nonce verification attempts in WordPress debug logs
- Unauthorized POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with chronosly parameters
Network Indicators:
- Cross-origin requests to WordPress admin endpoints without proper referrer headers
- Suspicious iframe or form submissions from external domains
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("invalid nonce" OR "chronosly" AND "admin-ajax")🔗 References
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/chronosly-events-calendar/wordpress-chronosly-events-calendar-plugin-2-6-2-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/chronosly-events-calendar/wordpress-chronosly-events-calendar-plugin-2-6-2-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
