CVE-2023-49840 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability identified in the Palscode Multi Currency For WooCommerce plugin, affecting versions up to 1.5.5. WooCommerce is a widely used e-commerce platform for WordPress, and the Multi Currency plugin allows online stores to display prices and process transactions in multiple currencies. The CSRF vulnerability (CWE-352) allows an attacker to trick an authenticated administrator or user with sufficient privileges into submitting unauthorized requests to the vulnerable plugin without their consent. This can be achieved by luring the victim to visit a malicious website or click on a crafted link, which then sends a forged request to the WooCommerce site. The vulnerability does not require prior authentication (PR:N) but does require user interaction (UI:R), such as clicking a link or visiting a malicious page. The attack vector is network-based (AV:N), and the vulnerability has low attack complexity (AC:L). The impact is limited to integrity (I:L), meaning the attacker could potentially manipulate certain plugin settings or currency configurations, but there is no direct impact on confidentiality or availability. The scope is unchanged (S:U), indicating the vulnerability affects only the vulnerable component without impacting other system components. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.3, categorizing this as a medium severity vulnerability. Given the plugin's role in managing currency settings, successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized changes in pricing display or transaction processing, potentially causing financial discrepancies or customer confusion.

For European organizations operating WooCommerce-based e-commerce sites using the Palscode Multi Currency plugin, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized manipulation of currency settings or pricing configurations. This may result in incorrect pricing displayed to customers, financial losses due to altered transaction amounts, or reputational damage if customers perceive the site as insecure or unreliable. While the vulnerability does not directly expose sensitive customer data or disrupt service availability, the integrity compromise could affect business operations and customer trust. Given the widespread adoption of WooCommerce in Europe, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in retail and services sectors, the impact could be significant if exploited at scale. Additionally, attackers could use this vulnerability as part of a broader attack chain to undermine e-commerce operations or conduct fraud. The requirement for user interaction limits automated exploitation but does not eliminate risk, especially if attackers employ social engineering tactics targeting site administrators or privileged users.

European organizations should immediately verify if their WooCommerce installations use the Palscode Multi Currency plugin version 1.5.5 or earlier. Since no official patch links are currently available, organizations should monitor vendor communications and security advisories for updates or patches addressing CVE-2023-49840. In the interim, administrators should implement the following specific mitigations: 1) Restrict administrative access to trusted networks and users to reduce exposure to CSRF attacks. 2) Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules designed to detect and block CSRF attack patterns targeting WooCommerce endpoints. 3) Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all administrative accounts to mitigate the risk of compromised credentials being exploited in conjunction with CSRF. 4) Educate administrators and privileged users about the risks of clicking unknown links or visiting untrusted websites while logged into the WooCommerce admin panel. 5) Review and harden WordPress and WooCommerce security configurations, including ensuring nonce verification is properly implemented in custom plugins or themes. 6) Consider temporarily disabling or replacing the Multi Currency plugin with alternative solutions that have confirmed security postures until a patch is released. 7) Regularly audit logs for suspicious administrative actions that could indicate exploitation attempts.