CVE-2022-1900 is a high-severity Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability affecting the Copify plugin for WordPress, developed by robmcvey. This vulnerability exists in all versions up to and including 1.3.0 due to the absence of nonce validation on the CopifySettings page. Nonce validation is a security mechanism designed to ensure that requests to change settings originate from legitimate users and not from malicious third-party sites. Without this protection, an attacker can craft a malicious web request that, when executed by an authenticated site administrator (for example, by clicking a link or visiting a malicious webpage), causes unauthorized changes to the plugin’s settings. This can lead to the injection of malicious web scripts, potentially enabling further attacks such as persistent cross-site scripting (XSS), privilege escalation, or site compromise. The vulnerability requires user interaction (UI:R) but no prior authentication (PR:N), and can be exploited remotely over the network (AV:N). The impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is rated high, as attackers can manipulate plugin settings and inject malicious code, potentially compromising the entire WordPress site. Although no public exploits are currently known in the wild, the vulnerability’s CVSS score of 8.8 underscores its critical nature and the urgency for patching or mitigation. The lack of an official patch link suggests that users must monitor vendor updates or apply manual mitigations to protect their sites.

For European organizations using WordPress sites with the Copify plugin, this vulnerability poses a significant risk. Successful exploitation can lead to unauthorized administrative changes, injection of malicious scripts, and potential full site compromise. This can result in data breaches, defacement, or use of the site as a launchpad for further attacks such as phishing or malware distribution. Organizations in sectors such as e-commerce, government, healthcare, and media are particularly vulnerable due to the sensitive nature of their data and the reputational damage from website compromise. Additionally, GDPR regulations impose strict requirements on data protection; a breach resulting from this vulnerability could lead to regulatory penalties and loss of customer trust. The requirement for user interaction means that targeted phishing or social engineering campaigns could be used to exploit this vulnerability, increasing the risk for organizations with less security-aware administrators.

1. Immediate mitigation involves disabling or removing the Copify plugin until a secure patched version is available. 2. If removal is not feasible, restrict administrative access to trusted networks or VPNs to reduce exposure. 3. Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit the impact of potential script injections. 4. Educate site administrators about the risks of clicking on unsolicited links and the importance of verifying URLs before interaction. 5. Monitor web server and application logs for unusual POST requests to the CopifySettings page or unexpected changes in plugin settings. 6. Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAF) with custom rules to detect and block CSRF attack patterns targeting the plugin’s endpoints. 7. Regularly update WordPress core, plugins, and themes to the latest versions once a patch for this vulnerability is released. 8. Consider implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for administrative accounts to reduce the risk of account misuse.