CVE-2023-46780
📋 TL;DR
This Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the WordPress Alter plugin allows attackers to trick authenticated administrators into performing unintended actions. Attackers can create malicious requests that execute when an admin visits a compromised page, potentially modifying plugin settings or performing other administrative actions. All WordPress sites using Alter plugin version 1.0 or earlier are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- WordPress Alter Plugin
📦 What is this software?
Alter by Altersoftware
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could modify plugin settings, inject malicious code, or perform other administrative actions leading to site compromise, data theft, or malware distribution.
Likely Case
Attackers modify plugin configurations, inject advertising or redirects, or perform limited administrative actions without full site takeover.
If Mitigated
With proper CSRF protections and user awareness, impact is minimal as requests require admin interaction and proper tokens prevent unauthorized actions.
🎯 Exploit Status
CSRF attacks are well-understood and easy to implement; exploitation requires social engineering to trick authenticated users.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Version after 1.0 (check WordPress plugin repository)
Vendor Advisory: https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/alter/wordpress-alter-plugin-1-0-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find Alter plugin and click 'Update Now' if available. 4. If no update available, deactivate and delete the plugin, then install the latest version from WordPress repository.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement CSRF Protection
allAdd CSRF tokens to all form submissions and AJAX requests in the plugin code
Edit plugin PHP files to include wp_nonce_field() and check_admin_referer() functions
Disable Plugin
linuxTemporarily disable the Alter plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate alter
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block CSRF attempts
- Educate administrators about CSRF risks and safe browsing practices
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Installed Plugins for Alter plugin version 1.0 or earlierCheck Version:
wp plugin get alter --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify plugin version is greater than 1.0 and test form submissions include CSRF tokens📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple POST requests to admin-ajax.php or admin-post.php without referrer headers
- Unexpected plugin setting changes in WordPress logs
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests with missing or mismatched referrer headers to admin endpoints
- Suspicious cross-origin requests to WordPress admin functions
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("admin-ajax.php" OR "admin-post.php") AND NOT referer="*wp-admin*"