CVE-2023-4251 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting versions of the EventPrime WordPress plugin prior to 3.2.0. The vulnerability is classified as CWE-352, indicating a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) issue. Specifically, the plugin lacks proper CSRF protections when handling booking creation requests. This absence of CSRF checks means that an attacker can craft a malicious web request that, when visited by an authenticated user of the WordPress site with EventPrime installed, causes the user’s browser to unknowingly submit a booking creation request. The attacker does not need to have any privileges or authentication themselves; the attack leverages the victim’s authenticated session. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.3 (medium), with vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N, indicating that the attack can be performed remotely over the network with low complexity, no privileges required, but user interaction (clicking a link or visiting a page) is necessary. The impact is limited to integrity, as the attacker can cause unwanted bookings to be created, but confidentiality and availability are not affected. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time, and no official patches have been linked, though upgrading to version 3.2.0 or later presumably addresses the issue. The vulnerability is relevant to WordPress sites using the EventPrime plugin, which is a booking and event management tool. The lack of CSRF tokens or other anti-CSRF mechanisms in booking creation endpoints is the root cause.

For European organizations using WordPress sites with the EventPrime plugin, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized creation of bookings or reservations without the consent of the legitimate user. This can cause operational disruptions, such as overbooking events, resource misallocation, or financial losses if bookings are tied to payments or limited resources. While the vulnerability does not expose sensitive data or allow privilege escalation, the integrity compromise can undermine trust in the booking system and cause administrative overhead to identify and remove fraudulent bookings. Organizations in sectors like event management, education, hospitality, or any service relying on EventPrime for scheduling are particularly at risk. The attack requires a logged-in user to interact with a malicious link or page, so phishing or social engineering campaigns could be used to exploit this vulnerability. Although no known exploits exist currently, the ease of exploitation and the widespread use of WordPress in Europe mean that attackers could develop exploits quickly. The impact is primarily on business processes and user trust rather than direct data breaches or system outages.

1. Upgrade the EventPrime plugin to version 3.2.0 or later where the CSRF protections have been implemented. 2. If immediate upgrade is not possible, implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious POST requests to booking creation endpoints, especially those lacking valid CSRF tokens or originating from external referrers. 3. Educate users and administrators about the risks of clicking unknown links while logged into administrative or user accounts on the WordPress site. 4. Review and harden WordPress user session management, including limiting session duration and enforcing re-authentication for sensitive actions. 5. Monitor booking logs for unusual spikes or patterns indicative of automated or unauthorized booking creation. 6. Consider implementing additional custom CSRF tokens or nonce checks in the plugin’s booking creation forms if feasible. 7. Regularly audit installed plugins for updates and vulnerabilities, prioritizing those handling critical business functions like bookings. 8. Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to reduce the risk of malicious script injection that could facilitate CSRF attacks.