CVE-2022-2167: Newspaper WordPress Theme Vulnerability Leads to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) in Versions before 12

The Newspaper WordPress theme, a popular and widely used theme for content-rich websites, has been found to contain a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in versions before 12. This vulnerability, tracked under the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system with the identifier CVE-2022-2167, allows attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of users' browsers. In this article, we'll delve into the technical details of this vulnerability, demonstrating how it works and how it can be exploited.

Original References

1. CVE Details: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2022-2167
2. The Official WordPress Plugin Repository: https://wordpress.org/themes/newspaper/
3. Newspaper Theme Changelog: https://tagdiv.com/changelog/

The vulnerable code snippet in the Newspaper WordPress theme is shown below

function td_ajax_get_js() {
    global $_REQUEST;

    // ... other code ...

    if (isset($_REQUEST['td_theme'])) {
        $td_theme = $_REQUEST['td_theme'];
        echo "<!-- th--> <script data-cfasync="false" src=" . $td_theme . "></script>";
    }

    // ... other code ...
}
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_td_ajax_render_js_sdk', 'td_ajax_get_js'); 
add_action('wp_ajax_td_ajax_render_js_sdk', 'td_ajax_get_js');

Exploit Details

The vulnerability exists because the theme does not sanitize the "td_theme" parameter before outputting it back in an HTML attribute via an AJAX action. Consequently, it allows an attacker to inject arbitrary JavaScript code in the attribute value.

An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by enticing the victim to click a specially crafted link containing the malicious payload. The link would look something like this:

https://vulnerable-website.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=td_ajax_render_js_sdk&td_theme="><script>alert("XSS")</script>;

When a user clicks on this link, the attacker's JavaScript payload (alert("XSS")) will be executed in the user's browser, demonstrating the XSS vulnerability. In a real-world attack, the payload could be far more malicious, stealing user data, hijacking account sessions, or redirecting users to phishing websites.

Mitigation

To protect your WordPress installation from this vulnerability, you should ensure that you've updated your Newspaper theme to version 12 or later, as the vulnerability has been patched in these versions. You can download the latest version of the Newspaper theme from the official WordPress Plugin Repository (https://wordpress.org/themes/newspaper/) or refer to the theme's changelog for version-specific updates (https://tagdiv.com/changelog/).

In addition, it is a good security practice to always keep your WordPress installation, themes, and plugins up-to-date to avoid falling victim to known vulnerabilities.

Conclusion

This article has detailed the Reflected XSS vulnerability in the Newspaper WordPress theme with CVE identifier CVE-2022-2167. We've shown the vulnerable code snippet, demonstrated how the vulnerability can be exploited, and provided mitigation strategies to protect your website. If you're using the Newspaper theme, it's crucial to update your installation to prevent potential exploitation by attackers.

Stay vigilant, and always keep your software up-to-date to maintain a secure environment for your website and its users!

Timeline

Published on: 10/31/2022 16:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 11/01/2022 14:04:00 UTC