CVE-2024-33651 Overview
CVE-2024-33651 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability affecting the Matthew Fries MF Gig Calendar plugin for WordPress. The flaw impacts all plugin versions from initial release through 1.2.1. An attacker can craft a malicious web page that, when visited by an authenticated administrator, triggers unauthorized state-changing requests against the WordPress site.
The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery. Exploitation requires user interaction, but the attack vector is network-based with no privileges required from the attacker.
Critical Impact
Successful exploitation allows attackers to perform administrative actions in the context of an authenticated WordPress user, potentially compromising calendar data integrity and site configuration.
Affected Products
- Matthew Fries MF Gig Calendar plugin for WordPress
- All versions from initial release through 1.2.1
- WordPress installations using the mf-gig-calendar plugin
Discovery Timeline
- 2024-04-26 - CVE-2024-33651 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-33651
Vulnerability Analysis
The MF Gig Calendar plugin fails to validate the origin of state-changing HTTP requests. The plugin's administrative endpoints do not enforce WordPress nonce verification using wp_verify_nonce() or check_admin_referer() before processing actions such as creating, modifying, or deleting calendar entries.
When an authenticated administrator visits an attacker-controlled page, the browser automatically attaches the user's WordPress session cookie to forged requests. The plugin processes these requests as legitimate administrative actions because it relies solely on session authentication rather than anti-CSRF tokens.
The vulnerability carries integrity, confidentiality, and availability impact because the affected functions permit data modification within the WordPress administration context.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing CSRF protection on plugin handlers that perform privileged operations. WordPress provides a nonce framework specifically to mitigate this class of issue, but the affected plugin code paths do not implement it. Any plugin action reachable via a predictable URL or form structure can be triggered cross-origin.
Attack Vector
Exploitation follows a standard CSRF pattern. The attacker hosts a page containing an auto-submitting HTML form or an image tag pointing at the vulnerable plugin endpoint. The attacker then lures an authenticated WordPress administrator to visit the page through phishing, a comment link, or a compromised third-party site.
Once loaded, the victim's browser issues the forged request with valid authentication cookies attached. The plugin processes the request and executes the attacker-chosen action. No credentials are exposed to the attacker, but arbitrary state changes occur within the victim's privilege boundary.
For technical specifics, refer to the Patchstack CSRF Vulnerability Report.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-33651
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected creation, modification, or deletion of gig calendar entries without corresponding administrator activity in audit logs
- HTTP Referer headers in WordPress access logs pointing to external domains during plugin administrative actions
- POST requests to MF Gig Calendar endpoints lacking the standard WordPress _wpnonce parameter
Detection Strategies
- Review WordPress access logs for plugin-related POST requests originating from off-site referrers
- Correlate calendar modification timestamps against administrator login sessions to identify out-of-band changes
- Deploy a web application firewall rule that flags requests to /wp-admin/admin.php?page=mf-gig-calendar* lacking a valid nonce parameter
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable WordPress activity logging plugins to capture all administrative actions with user, IP, and referer attribution
- Alert on plugin configuration changes performed outside business hours or from unusual geolocations
- Monitor outbound email and webhook activity following calendar modifications to detect downstream attacker objectives
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-33651
Immediate Actions Required
- Identify all WordPress installations running the MF Gig Calendar plugin at version 1.2.1 or earlier
- Deactivate the plugin until a patched version is verified and installed
- Force re-authentication of all WordPress administrative accounts to invalidate active sessions that could be abused
- Audit calendar entries and plugin settings for unauthorized changes
Patch Information
No vendor patch is referenced in the available advisory data. Administrators should monitor the Patchstack advisory and the plugin's WordPress repository page for an updated release beyond version 1.2.1. Until a fixed version is published, removing the plugin is the recommended path.
Workarounds
- Remove the MF Gig Calendar plugin from production WordPress sites and replace it with an actively maintained calendar plugin that implements nonce verification
- Restrict access to /wp-admin/ by source IP using web server or reverse proxy rules to limit CSRF reachability
- Train administrators to log out of WordPress when not actively managing the site and to avoid browsing untrusted content in the same session
- Deploy a web application firewall ruleset that enforces presence of WordPress nonce parameters on plugin administrative endpoints
# Example: WordPress CLI commands to deactivate and remove the vulnerable plugin
wp plugin deactivate mf-gig-calendar
wp plugin delete mf-gig-calendar
wp user session destroy --all
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
