CVE-2023-47550 – This CVE describes a Cross-Site Request Forgery... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-47550?

CVE-2023-47550 has a CVSS score of 7.1 (HIGH). This CVE describes a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the WordPress plugin 'Donations Made Easy – Smart Donations' that allows attackers to perform stored cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. Attackers can trick authenticated administrators into executing malicious actions that inject harmful scripts into the website. This affects all WordPress sites using vulnerable versions of this plugin.

📋 TL;DR

This CVE describes a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the WordPress plugin 'Donations Made Easy – Smart Donations' that allows attackers to perform stored cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. Attackers can trick authenticated administrators into executing malicious actions that inject harmful scripts into the website. This affects all WordPress sites using vulnerable versions of this plugin.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

RedNao Donations Made Easy – Smart Donations WordPress Plugin

Versions: n/a through 4.0.12

Operating Systems: Any OS running WordPress

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All WordPress installations with the vulnerable plugin versions are affected regardless of configuration.

📦 What is this software?

Donations Made Easy Smart Donations by Rednao

View all CVEs affecting Donations Made Easy Smart Donations →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Attackers could inject malicious JavaScript that steals administrator credentials, redirects users to phishing sites, or takes full control of the WordPress site.

🟠

Likely Case

Attackers inject malicious scripts that steal session cookies or perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users, potentially compromising donor data.

🟢

If Mitigated

With proper CSRF protections and input validation, the attack would fail or have minimal impact.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH

🏢 Internal Only: LOW

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: LOW

Exploitation requires tricking an authenticated administrator into clicking a malicious link, but the technical complexity is low.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 4.0.13 or later

Vendor Advisory: https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/smart-donations/wordpress-donations-made-easy-smart-donations-plugin-4-0-12-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability-2?_s_id=cve

Restart Required: No

Instructions:

1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Donations Made Easy – Smart Donations'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. If no update appears, manually download version 4.0.13+ from WordPress.org and replace the plugin files.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Temporary Plugin Deactivation

all

Disable the vulnerable plugin until patched

wp plugin deactivate smart-donations

CSRF Protection Headers

linux

Add CSRF protection headers to WordPress configuration

Add to .htaccess: Header set X-Frame-Options DENY
Add to .htaccess: Header set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'"

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Disable the 'Donations Made Easy – Smart Donations' plugin immediately
Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block CSRF and XSS patterns

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check WordPress admin → Plugins → Installed Plugins → Donations Made Easy – Smart Donations → Version number

Check Version:

wp plugin get smart-donations --field=version

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify plugin version is 4.0.13 or higher in WordPress admin panel

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Unusual POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with plugin-specific parameters
Multiple failed CSRF token validations in WordPress logs

Network Indicators:

Unexpected JavaScript injection in donation forms or admin pages
Suspicious iframe or script tags in plugin-related HTTP responses

SIEM Query:

source="wordpress.log" AND ("smart-donations" OR "donations-made-easy") AND ("csrf" OR "xss" OR "script injection")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-47550

CVSS v3 Score: 7.1 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L

CWE: CWE-352

Published: November 14, 2023

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

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