CVE-2024-0856
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in the Appointment Booking Calendar WordPress plugin allows attackers to perform Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks against logged-in administrators. Attackers can trick users into performing unauthorized actions like adding bookings without payment. WordPress sites using vulnerable versions of this plugin are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Appointment Booking Calendar WordPress Plugin
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could manipulate booking data, create fraudulent appointments, bypass payment systems, or potentially chain with other vulnerabilities for further compromise.
Likely Case
Unauthorized booking creation leading to service disruption, financial loss from unpaid appointments, and potential data integrity issues.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper CSRF protections, though the vulnerability still exists in the codebase.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires tricking a logged-in administrator to visit a malicious page. CSRF attacks are well-understood and easy to implement.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.3.83
Vendor Advisory: https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/eb383600-0cff-4f24-8127-1fb118f0565a/
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Appointment Booking Calendar'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available, or download version 1.3.83+ from WordPress repository. 5. Activate the updated plugin.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Temporary Plugin Deactivation
allDisable the vulnerable plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate appointment-booking-calendar
CSRF Protection via WAF
allConfigure Web Application Firewall to detect CSRF patterns
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict access controls and limit admin session durations
- Use browser extensions that block CSRF attempts and educate users about phishing risks
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check plugin version in WordPress admin under Plugins → Installed PluginsCheck Version:
wp plugin get appointment-booking-calendar --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm plugin version is 1.3.83 or higher and test booking functionality📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual booking creation patterns
- Multiple failed payment attempts for bookings
- Admin actions from unexpected IPs/sessions
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests to booking endpoints without proper referrer headers
- Suspicious redirects to booking confirmation pages
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND (uri_path="/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" OR uri_path CONTAINS "booking") AND http_method="POST" AND referrer NOT CONTAINS own_domain