CVE-2022-4346: Critical Information Leak Vulnerability in the All-In-One Security WordPress Plugin before version 5.1.3

A critical vulnerability, CVE-2022-4346, has been discovered in the All-In-One Security (AIOS) plugin for WordPress. This vulnerability affects all versions before 5.1.3, allowing unauthorized users to access sensitive information related to the plugin's settings, including the email address used by administrators. This article discusses the details of the exploit, the potential risks associated with it, and the steps required to resolve the issue.

Details of the Exploit

The AIOS plugin is widely used for enhancing the security of WordPress websites. However, the information leak vulnerability discovered in versions earlier than 5.1.3 exposes sensitive plugin configuration data to the public. The issue lies in the way the plugin handles requests to the settings endpoint.

In the vulnerable versions of AIOS, a malicious user can exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted GET request to the plugin's settings page, forcing the plugin to return its configuration data, including the administrator's email address. The following is a code snippet that demonstrates how somebody can exploit this vulnerability:

GET /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=aios_endpoints&endpoint=settings HTTP/1.1
Host: vulnerable_website.com
User-Agent: Mozilla/5. (Windows NT 10.; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/58..3029.110 Safari/537.3
Accept: */*
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, sdch
Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=.8
Connection: close

The leaked settings may reveal critical information for the attacker, enabling them to perform targeted attacks, gain unauthorized access, or even launch spear-phishing campaigns.

Original References and Attribution

The CVE was assigned by the CVE project and was initially reported by security researcher Pedro Ribeiro from Agile Information Security. Details about the discovery and a proof-of-concept are available in the public advisory. The WordPress plugin team has also acknowledged the vulnerability in their official forum.

Potential Risks

The information leak associated with this vulnerability poses a severe threat, as leaking sensitive information might lead to the following risks:

1. Compromised administrator accounts: An attacker can use leaked email addresses to target administrators with phishing or spear-phishing attacks.
2. Unauthorized access: By knowing sensitive plugin settings, an attacker might gain unauthorized access to your WordPress instance, potentially leading to defacement or data breaches.
3. Social engineering: Gaining access to the AIOS settings data could help an attacker prepare social engineering campaigns to trick administrators into disclosing their credentials.

Recommended Mitigation

If you are using the AIOS WordPress plugin, it is crucial to take the following steps to mitigate the risks associated with the CVE-2022-4346 vulnerability:

1. Update to the latest version: Upgrade the AIOS plugin to version 5.1.3 or later, as this version addresses the information leak issue.
2. Monitor your logs: Pay special attention to any suspicious activity around your plugin settings or administrator-related actions.
3. Use strong authentication: Implement strong authentication measures such as 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) to protect your administrator accounts from unauthorized access.
4. Enhance your email security: Use email security mechanisms to detect and block phishing and spear-phishing attacks targeting your administrators.

Conclusion

The CVE-2022-4346 vulnerability in the All-In-One Security WordPress plugin poses a significant threat to website administrators and end-users. By following the recommended mitigation steps and keeping the plugin updated, website administrators can minimize the risk and ensure their sensitive information remains protected.

Remember to stay vigilant, update your plugins regularly, and use multi-layered security measures to keep your WordPress installations and administrators safe from potential threats.

Timeline

Published on: 01/23/2023 15:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 01/30/2023 18:06:00 UTC