CVE-2012-1936

The wp_create_nonce function in wp-includes/pluggable.php in WordPress 3.3.1 and earlier associates a nonce with a user account instead of a user session, which might make it easier for remote attackers to conduct cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks on specific actions and objects by sniffing the network, as demonstrated by attacks against the wp-admin/admin-ajax.php and wp-admin/user-new.php scripts. NOTE: the vendor reportedly disputes the significance of this issue because wp_create_nonce operates as intended, even if it is arguably inconsistent with certain CSRF protection details advocated by external organizations

Weakness

The web application does not, or can not, sufficiently verify whether a well-formed, valid, consistent request was intentionally provided by the user who submitted the request.

Affected Software

Potential Mitigations

• Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
• For example, use anti-CSRF packages such as the OWASP CSRFGuard. [REF-330]
• Another example is the ESAPI Session Management control, which includes a component for CSRF. [REF-45]
• Use the “double-submitted cookie” method as described by Felten and Zeller:
• When a user visits a site, the site should generate a pseudorandom value and set it as a cookie on the user’s machine. The site should require every form submission to include this value as a form value and also as a cookie value. When a POST request is sent to the site, the request should only be considered valid if the form value and the cookie value are the same.
• Because of the same-origin policy, an attacker cannot read or modify the value stored in the cookie. To successfully submit a form on behalf of the user, the attacker would have to correctly guess the pseudorandom value. If the pseudorandom value is cryptographically strong, this will be prohibitively difficult.
• This technique requires Javascript, so it may not work for browsers that have Javascript disabled. [REF-331]

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/111.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/462.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/467.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/62.html

References

• http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/18791
• http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/53280
• http://www.webapp-security.com/2012/04/wordpress-3-3-1-multiple-csrf-vulnerabilities
• http://www.webapp-security.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Wordpress-3.3.1-Multiple-CSRF-Vulnerabilities6.txt