CVE-2023-47186
📋 TL;DR
This CSRF vulnerability in the Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer WordPress plugin allows attackers to trick authenticated administrators into performing unintended actions. Attackers could modify email templates or plugin settings without the admin's knowledge. All WordPress sites using vulnerable plugin versions are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Kadence WP Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could modify WooCommerce email templates to inject malicious content, steal customer data, or redirect payments. Could lead to business disruption and data breaches.
Likely Case
Attackers modify email templates to include phishing links or malicious content, compromising customer trust and potentially leading to credential theft.
If Mitigated
With proper CSRF protections and admin awareness, impact is minimal as attacks require user interaction and authentication.
🎯 Exploit Status
CSRF attacks are well-understood and easy to weaponize. Requires victim to be logged in as admin.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.5.12
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. Alternatively, download version 1.5.12+ from WordPress repository and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
CSRF Protection Headers
allAdd CSRF protection headers via web server configuration or security plugins
# For Apache: Add 'Header set X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN' to .htaccess
# For Nginx: add 'add_header X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN;' to config
Disable Plugin
linuxTemporarily disable the vulnerable plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate kadence-woocommerce-email-designer
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict SameSite cookie policies and CSRF tokens via security plugins
- Restrict admin panel access to specific IP addresses only
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check plugin version in WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed PluginsCheck Version:
wp plugin get kadence-woocommerce-email-designer --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify plugin version is 1.5.12 or higher after update📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple POST requests to /wp-admin/admin.php?page=kadence-woocommerce-email-designer from unexpected sources
- Unusual email template modifications
Network Indicators:
- CSRF attack patterns with forged requests to admin endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("kadence-woocommerce-email-designer" OR "admin.php?page=kadence") AND method="POST"🔗 References
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/kadence-woocommerce-email-designer/wordpress-kadence-woocommerce-email-designer-plugin-1-5-11-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/kadence-woocommerce-email-designer/wordpress-kadence-woocommerce-email-designer-plugin-1-5-11-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
