CVE-2024-22140
📋 TL;DR
This CSRF vulnerability in Profile Builder Pro WordPress plugin allows attackers to trick authenticated administrators into performing unintended actions. Successful exploitation could lead to account takeover by changing user passwords or roles. All WordPress sites using Profile Builder Pro versions up to 3.10.0 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Cozmoslabs Profile Builder Pro WordPress Plugin
📦 What is this software?
Profile Builder by Cozmoslabs
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete site compromise through administrator account takeover, allowing attacker to install backdoors, modify content, or steal sensitive data.
Likely Case
Privilege escalation or account takeover of regular users, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive user data.
If Mitigated
No impact if proper CSRF tokens are implemented and validated on all state-changing requests.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires tricking authenticated users into visiting malicious pages. No authentication bypass needed for CSRF attacks.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.10.1 or later
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find Profile Builder Pro. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. Alternatively, download latest version from WordPress repository and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Temporary Plugin Deactivation
allDisable Profile Builder Pro plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate profile-builder-pro
CSRF Protection via .htaccess
linuxAdd Referrer-Policy header to help prevent CSRF
Header always set Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin"
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement additional CSRF protection at web application firewall level
- Monitor for suspicious user role changes or password reset activities
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Profile Builder Pro version. If version is 3.10.0 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get profile-builder-pro --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Profile Builder Pro version is 3.10.1 or higher in WordPress admin plugins page.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple password change requests from same IP
- Unexpected user role modifications
- Failed CSRF token validation attempts
Network Indicators:
- POST requests to profile builder endpoints without referrer headers
- Cross-origin requests to user management endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("profile-builder" OR "pb_" OR "wppb_") AND ("password" OR "role" OR "update_user")🔗 References
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/profile-builder-pro/wordpress-profile-builder-pro-plugin-3-10-0-csrf-leading-to-account-takeover-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/profile-builder-pro/wordpress-profile-builder-pro-plugin-3-10-0-csrf-leading-to-account-takeover-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
