Recently, a severe security vulnerability has been identified as CVE-2022-3441 in the Rock Convert WordPress plugin. The vulnerability potentially allows admins and other high privilege users to execute Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks through unsanitized and unescaped input fields in the plugin settings. Affected versions are Rock Convert <= 2.10.1.
The Vulnerability
The Rock Convert WordPress plugin allows users to easily manage and convert their blog content into professionally designed content for marketing channels. However, researchers have discovered that in versions prior to 2.11., the plugin fails to sanitize and escape certain input fields in the settings, making it vulnerable to Stored XSS attacks. Even when the unfiltered_html capability is not allowed (e.g., within a multisite setup), an attacker having high privilege access can inject malicious scripts in the plugin settings, which subsequently get executed on the plugin's management interface or when another user accesses the affected plugin settings page.
Exploit Details
The following code snippet demonstrates a possible attack scenario involving the vulnerable Rock Convert settings:
// The vulnerable Rock Convert plugin setting input
<input type="text" name="rock_options[custom_js]" value="">
// The attacker enters the following malicious script in the input field:
<script>alert('XSS!')</script>
In this example, when an admin or other high-privileged users attempt to access the Rock Convert settings page, they unknowingly execute the malicious script that has been stored in the plugin settings, leading to a Stored XSS attack.
References
- CVE-2022-3441: MITRE provides the official CVE identifier and a brief description of the vulnerability.
- WordPress Plugin Repository - Rock Convert: The vulnerability has been fixed in version 2.11. of the Rock Convert plugin, which can be found in the WordPress plugin repository.
- National Vulnerability Database: More information about the severity and other details of the CVE can be found in the National Vulnerability Database.
To mitigate this vulnerability
1. Update the Rock Convert plugin to version 2.11. or later. This version has fixed the vulnerability and ensures proper input sanitization and escaping.
2. Always restrict access to your WordPress admin dashboard to trusted users only. Limit the number of users with high privileges to minimize the risk of exploitation.
3. Regularly audit and monitor your WordPress installation, especially when using third-party plugins, to minimize security risks and ensure quick response to newly found vulnerabilities.
Conclusion
The CVE-2022-3441 vulnerability in the Rock Convert WordPress plugin poses a significant security risk to websites with high privilege users, as it can allow for Stored XSS attacks through unsanitized and unescaped input fields. By updating the plugin to version 2.11. or later and following the recommended mitigation steps, website administrators and developers can protect their website and users from potential exploitation of this vulnerability.
Timeline
Published on: 10/31/2022 16:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 11/01/2022 15:53:00 UTC