CVE-2023-46776
📋 TL;DR
This CSRF vulnerability in the Serena Villa Auto Excerpt Everywhere WordPress plugin allows attackers to trick authenticated administrators into performing unintended actions. Attackers can forge requests that modify plugin settings or potentially execute other administrative functions when victims visit malicious pages. WordPress sites using this plugin version 1.5 or earlier are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Serena Villa Auto Excerpt Everywhere WordPress Plugin
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could change plugin settings, disable security features, or potentially chain with other vulnerabilities to gain administrative control of the WordPress site.
Likely Case
Attackers modify plugin configuration settings, potentially breaking site functionality or enabling other attack vectors through changed settings.
If Mitigated
With proper CSRF protections and user awareness, the risk is limited to unsuccessful attack attempts that get blocked by security controls.
🎯 Exploit Status
CSRF attacks are well-understood and easily weaponized. Requires social engineering to trick authenticated users.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.6 or later
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Auto Excerpt Everywhere'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. Alternatively, download version 1.6+ from WordPress repository and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Plugin
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate auto-excerpt-everywhere
Implement CSRF Tokens
allAdd CSRF protection to WordPress forms if custom implementation is possible
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict administrative access to trusted networks only
- Implement web application firewall with CSRF protection rules
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Auto Excerpt Everywhere > Version. If version is 1.5 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get auto-excerpt-everywhere --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After update, verify plugin version shows 1.6 or higher in WordPress admin plugins page.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple POST requests to plugin admin endpoints without referrer headers
- Unexpected plugin setting changes in WordPress logs
Network Indicators:
- Requests to /wp-admin/admin.php?page=auto-excerpt-everywhere from unexpected sources
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND (uri_path="/wp-admin/admin.php" AND query_string="page=auto-excerpt-everywhere")🔗 References
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/auto-excerpt-everywhere/wordpress-auto-excerpt-everywhere-plugin-1-5-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/auto-excerpt-everywhere/wordpress-auto-excerpt-everywhere-plugin-1-5-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
