CVE-2024-22136 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability identified in the DroitThemes Droit Elementor Addons – Widgets, Blocks, Templates Library for Elementor Builder, affecting versions up to 3.1.5. CSRF vulnerabilities allow an attacker to trick an authenticated user into submitting a forged HTTP request to a web application in which they are currently authenticated. This can result in unauthorized actions being performed without the user's consent. In this case, the vulnerability lies in the Droit Elementor Addons plugin, which is a popular extension for the Elementor page builder on WordPress. The plugin provides additional widgets, blocks, and templates to enhance website design and functionality. The vulnerability does not require privileges (PR:N) and can be exploited remotely over the network (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L). However, it requires user interaction (UI:R), meaning the victim must be tricked into clicking a malicious link or visiting a crafted webpage while authenticated. The impact is limited to integrity (I:L), with no direct confidentiality or availability impact. This means an attacker could potentially modify certain data or settings within the plugin or website without authorization, but cannot directly access sensitive information or cause denial of service. No known exploits are currently 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. The underlying weakness is CWE-352, which is a common web application security flaw related to insufficient anti-CSRF protections such as missing or ineffective CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms.

For European organizations using WordPress websites enhanced with the Droit Elementor Addons plugin, this vulnerability poses a moderate risk. If exploited, attackers could perform unauthorized actions on affected websites by leveraging authenticated sessions of legitimate users, potentially altering website content, configurations, or plugin settings. This could lead to website defacement, injection of malicious content, or unauthorized changes that undermine website integrity and trustworthiness. While the vulnerability does not directly expose confidential data or cause service outages, the integrity compromise can damage brand reputation and user trust. Organizations in sectors with high web presence such as e-commerce, media, education, and government could be particularly impacted. Furthermore, websites that rely heavily on Elementor and its addons for dynamic content management are at higher risk. The requirement for user interaction means phishing or social engineering campaigns could be used to facilitate exploitation. Given the widespread use of WordPress and Elementor in Europe, this vulnerability could affect a significant number of websites if not mitigated promptly.

European organizations should take the following specific steps to mitigate this vulnerability: 1) Immediately audit all WordPress sites using the Droit Elementor Addons plugin to identify affected versions (up to 3.1.5). 2) Monitor official DroitThemes channels and Patchstack advisories for the release of a security patch and apply it as soon as available. 3) In the interim, implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious POST requests that could be CSRF attempts targeting the plugin’s endpoints. 4) Enforce strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers and SameSite cookie attributes to reduce the risk of CSRF exploitation. 5) Educate website administrators and users about phishing risks and the importance of not clicking untrusted links while authenticated. 6) Review and enhance anti-CSRF protections in custom code or other plugins to ensure tokens are properly validated on all state-changing requests. 7) Conduct regular security scans and penetration tests focusing on CSRF and related web vulnerabilities. These targeted actions go beyond generic advice by focusing on plugin-specific risk management and interim protective controls.