CVE-2017-18521 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

The democracy-poll plugin for WordPress prior to version 5.4 is susceptible to cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks.

Understanding CVE-2017-18521

This CVE identifies a CSRF vulnerability in the democracy-poll plugin for WordPress.

What is CVE-2017-18521?

The democracy-poll plugin for WordPress before version 5.4 is vulnerable to CSRF attacks through a specific endpoint.

The Impact of CVE-2017-18521

This vulnerability could allow an attacker to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of an authenticated user, leading to potential data manipulation or unauthorized changes.

Technical Details of CVE-2017-18521

The technical aspects of this CVE are as follows:

Vulnerability Description

The democracy-poll plugin for WordPress version 5.4 and earlier is prone to CSRF via a specific endpoint.

Affected Systems and Versions

Product: democracy-poll plugin
Vendor: N/A
Versions affected: All versions prior to 5.4

Exploitation Mechanism

The vulnerability can be exploited through the wp-admin/options-general.php?page=democracy-poll&subpage=l10n endpoint.

Mitigation and Prevention

To address CVE-2017-18521, consider the following steps:

Immediate Steps to Take

Update the democracy-poll plugin to version 5.4 or newer.
Monitor for any unauthorized changes or actions on the WordPress site.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly review and update plugins to their latest versions.
Implement CSRF protection mechanisms in web applications.

Patching and Updates

Stay informed about security vulnerabilities in plugins and apply patches promptly.