CVE-2023-50900
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Averta Master Slider WordPress plugin. Attackers can trick authenticated administrators into performing unintended actions like changing plugin settings or deleting sliders. This affects WordPress sites using Master Slider versions up to 3.9.10.
💻 Affected Systems
- Averta Master Slider WordPress Plugin
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
An attacker could trick an administrator into deleting all sliders, changing critical settings, or potentially performing other administrative actions within the plugin's capabilities.
Likely Case
Attackers would typically use this to disrupt slider functionality, modify slider content, or cause minor site configuration changes.
If Mitigated
With proper CSRF protections and user awareness, the risk is minimal as it requires social engineering and authenticated admin sessions.
🎯 Exploit Status
CSRF attacks are well-understood and relatively simple to execute, but require social engineering to trick authenticated users.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.9.11 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/master-slider/wordpress-master-slider-plugin-3-9-10-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf-vulnerability
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find Master Slider and click 'Update Now' if available. 4. Alternatively, download version 3.9.11+ from WordPress.org and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement CSRF Protection Headers
allAdd security headers to WordPress to help prevent CSRF attacks
Add to .htaccess: Header set X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN"
Add to .htaccess: Header set Content-Security-Policy "frame-ancestors 'self'"
Restrict Admin Access
allLimit admin panel access to trusted IP addresses only
Add to .htaccess: <Files "wp-login.php">\nOrder Deny,Allow\nDeny from all\nAllow from 192.168.1.0/24\n</Files>
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Temporarily disable the Master Slider plugin until patching is possible
- Implement additional WordPress security plugins with CSRF protection features
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → Installed Plugins → Master Slider version. If version is 3.9.10 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin list --name=master-slider --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify Master Slider version is 3.9.11 or higher in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple POST requests to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with master-slider actions from unexpected referrers
- Unusual slider modifications or deletions in plugin logs
Network Indicators:
- CSRF attack patterns with forged requests to master-slider endpoints
- Requests with missing or mismatched nonce tokens
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND (uri_path="/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" AND action="master-slider-*") AND referrer NOT CONTAINS "yourdomain.com"🔗 References
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/master-slider/wordpress-master-slider-plugin-3-9-10-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/master-slider/wordpress-master-slider-plugin-3-9-10-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
