In recent times, the wpForo plugin has gained widespread popularity for providing robust forum functionalities on WordPress websites. However, a newly discovered security vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-40206, could potentially leave thousands of forums at risk. This vulnerability, also known as Insecure Direct Object References (IDOR), affects wpForo Forum plugin versions <= 2..5. Let's explore this vulnerability in this comprehensive post, detailing the exploit process and how you can protect your WordPress site featuring the wpForo plugin.

Vulnerability Overview

The IDOR vulnerability in the wpForo Forum plugin for WordPress allows attackers with subscriber or higher user roles to mark any forum post as private or public, potentially leading to unauthorized access or modifications.

The vulnerability exists due to a lack of proper access controls when handling "private" and "public" markers in the forum plugin. This allows an attacker with a valid subscriber account to simply modify the request sent to the server containing the target post's "private" or "public" status and force the post to change its visibility.

Exploit Details

To better understand this IDOR vulnerability, let's break down the exploit process step by step.

Using browser tools, monitor the network traffic while submitting a new forum post.

3. Locate the request used to create the post. You'll notice a parameter like "is_private=" or "is_private=1" depending on whether the post is public () or private (1).
4. Modify the request by changing the "postid" parameter to the target post's ID and adjust the "is_private" parameter to the desired status (either =public or 1=private).

Replay the modified request.

Upon executing the exploit, the target post's "private" or "public" status should change according to the attacker's desired preference. This can lead to unauthorized data access or modifications in the forum.

Here's a simple example of how the vulnerable code might look like in the wpForo plugin

function toggle_post_privacy() {
    $postid = $_POST['postid'];
    $is_private = $_POST['is_private'];

    if ($this->is_user_allowed($postid)) {
        $this->update_post_privacy($postid, $is_private);
    }
}

In this example, the "toggle_post_privacy()" function fails to properly validate the user's permissions before making changes to the post's status. This enables the IDOR vulnerability.

For further details on this vulnerability, you can refer to these official sources

1. The CVE-2022-40206 Vulnerability Link
2. The National Vulnerability Database Entry Link
3. Official wpForo Changelog Link

Protecting Your Site

To safeguard your WordPress site with the wpForo plugin, it is crucial to update the plugin to version 2..6 or later. This new release patches the IDOR vulnerability and ensures your forum is protected from unauthorized changes. You can update the plugin through your WordPress dashboard or download the latest version from the official wpForo website here.

Conclusion

Although the CVE-2022-40206 vulnerability in the wpForo plugin poses a potential threat to WordPress forums, being aware and prompt about security updates can help you safeguard your site. Always keep your plugins and themes up-to-date, and don't forget to apply best security practices to prevent unauthorized access and protect your users' data.

Timeline

Published on: 11/08/2022 19:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 11/09/2022 13:57:00 UTC