CVE-2024-8286 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting versions of the WordPress plugin webtoffee-gdpr-cookie-consent prior to 2.6.1. The issue is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability classified under CWE-352. Specifically, the plugin lacks proper CSRF protections on certain bulk action functionalities accessible to logged-in administrators. This flaw allows an attacker to craft malicious requests that, when executed by an authenticated admin, can trigger unintended actions such as deleting visit logs without the administrator's consent. The vulnerability does not impact confidentiality directly but compromises the integrity of administrative actions by enabling unauthorized modifications. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.5, reflecting a medium severity with the vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N, indicating network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, user interaction needed, unchanged scope, no confidentiality impact, high integrity impact, and no availability impact. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no official patches are linked yet, though the fixed version is 2.6.1 or later. The vulnerability was publicly disclosed in May 2025 and assigned by WPScan with enrichment from CISA. The core risk arises from the absence of CSRF tokens or equivalent protections in bulk administrative actions, which are critical since they can alter or delete important data such as visit logs that may be used for compliance or auditing purposes.

For European organizations, especially those operating websites with GDPR compliance features, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the integrity of administrative data. Deletion of visit logs can undermine audit trails required under GDPR and other privacy regulations, potentially leading to non-compliance and regulatory penalties. Since the plugin is designed to manage cookie consent, a critical component of privacy law adherence in Europe, exploitation could disrupt compliance workflows or conceal evidence of non-compliant behavior. Additionally, unauthorized administrative actions could erode trust in website management and data governance. While the vulnerability does not allow direct data exfiltration or availability disruption, the integrity compromise could facilitate further attacks or cover tracks of malicious activity. The requirement for an authenticated admin user to be tricked into executing the malicious request limits the attack surface but does not eliminate risk, especially in environments where phishing or social engineering attacks are common. Organizations with high administrative user counts or less stringent session management are more vulnerable.

European organizations should immediately update the webtoffee-gdpr-cookie-consent plugin to version 2.6.1 or later once available to ensure CSRF protections are implemented. Until then, administrators should limit the number of users with high-level privileges and enforce strict session management policies, including short session timeouts and multi-factor authentication to reduce the risk of session hijacking. Web application firewalls (WAFs) can be configured to detect and block suspicious bulk action requests lacking proper CSRF tokens. Additionally, organizations should conduct regular audits of administrative actions and visit log integrity to detect unauthorized changes promptly. Implementing Content Security Policy (CSP) headers and anti-CSRF tokens in custom administrative workflows can further reduce risk. User training to recognize phishing attempts that could trigger CSRF attacks is also recommended. Finally, monitoring plugin updates and vulnerability disclosures from trusted sources like WPScan and CISA is critical for timely patching.