Unauthenticated CSRF in Gmail SMTP Plugin

Executive Summary

The WordPress Gmail SMTP Plugin, versions 1.2.3.19 and earlier, is vulnerable to an unauthenticated Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attack. This means an attacker can trick a user, typically one with higher privileges, into performing unwanted actions on the plugin by making them click a malicious link or submit a crafted form while they are authenticated.

This vulnerability exploits broken access control mechanisms and requires user interaction to be successful.

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability affects the WordPress Gmail SMTP Plugin versions 1.2.3.19 and earlier. Detection primarily involves verifying the installed plugin version to determine if it is vulnerable.

To detect if your system is vulnerable, check the version of the Gmail SMTP plugin installed on your WordPress site. If it is version 1.2.3.19 or earlier, it is vulnerable.

There are no specific network detection commands or signatures provided for this CSRF vulnerability, as it requires user interaction and exploits web application logic.

Suggested commands to check the plugin version on your WordPress installation include:

• Using WP-CLI: wp plugin list | grep gmail-smtp
• Manually checking the plugin's readme or main plugin file for the version number, e.g., by viewing the file wp-content/plugins/gmail-smtp/readme.txt or the plugin header in the main PHP file.

If the version is vulnerable, immediate update to version 1.2.3.20 or later is recommended.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability could allow an attacker to force higher privileged users to execute unwanted actions within the Gmail SMTP plugin under their current authentication. Although the impact is considered low severity (CVSS score 4.3), it can lead to unauthorized changes or actions being performed without the user's consent.

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Compliance Impact

The vulnerability is a Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) issue classified under OWASP Top 10 A1: Broken Access Control, which could allow attackers to force privileged users to perform unwanted actions. Such unauthorized actions could potentially lead to improper access or modification of data.

While the CVE description and resources do not explicitly mention compliance with standards like GDPR or HIPAA, vulnerabilities that enable unauthorized actions or broken access control can increase the risk of data breaches or unauthorized data processing, which may impact compliance with these regulations.

Therefore, organizations using affected versions of the Gmail SMTP plugin should update promptly to mitigate risks that could affect regulatory compliance.

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Mitigation Strategies

The vulnerability in the WordPress Gmail SMTP Plugin versions 1.2.3.19 and earlier can be mitigated by updating the plugin to version 1.2.3.20 or later.

If updating immediately is not possible, it is recommended to seek assistance from a hosting provider or a web developer to help mitigate the risk.

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