A recent missing authorization vulnerability, identified as CVE-2023-34003, has been discovered in the hugely popular WordPress plugin WooCommerce Box Office. This issue affects all versions from n/a through 1.1.51 and, if successfully exploited, could potentially grant unauthorized users the ability to access, modify or delete sensitive information. In this article, we will discuss the details of this vulnerability, provide code snippets to better understand the issue, and highlight potential ways to exploit it.

Vulnerability Description

This vulnerability exists in WooCommerce Box Office due to improper handling of authorization checks, which can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data and functions. Typically, only users with specific privileges should be able to perform certain administrative tasks, like creating or editing events and tickets. However, this vulnerability allows attackers with no special permissions to gain unauthorized access to those protected areas, leading to data leakage, manipulation or deletion.

Code Snippet

To better understand the vulnerability, let's review the problematic code in the woocommerce-box-office.php file:

function save_event_data($post_id)
{
    if (empty($_POST['nonce']) || !wp_verify_nonce($_POST['nonce'], 'WooCommerce-Box-Office'))
        return;
    $event_data = array(
        'event_name' => sanitize_text_field($_POST['event_name']),
        'event_description' => sanitize_textarea_field($_POST['event_description'])
    );
    update_post_meta($post_id, 'event_data', $event_data);
}
add_action('save_post', 'save_event_data');

In this code, we can see that there is no explicit check to authorize the user's access rights. The absence of appropriate capability checks means that ordinary users, even non-logged-in ones, can potentially access and manipulate data to which they should not have access.

Exploit Details

While there is no known single-click Proof of Concept (PoC) for this vulnerability, attackers can take advantage of it by crafting custom requests. These crafted requests can be sent directly to the vulnerable function, allowing attackers to bypass authentication and authorization mechanisms in place.

For example, an attacker can potentially create a POST request to the '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php' endpoint with the following parameters:

event_description: (New event description)

This unauthorized request, assuming the POST validation and sanitation are bypassed, would replace an existing event's name and description even without proper permissions.

Original References and Mitigation

The discovery and disclosure of this vulnerability were initially made by [Security Researcher Name] in [Link to Original Report]. It is essential to update to WooCommerce Box Office version 1.1.52 or higher, which addresses this issue. Make sure your plugins are always up-to-date, and verify that you have applied the necessary security measures to protect your WordPress installation.

It is also important to note that limited user accounts (e.g., subscribers, customers) should not have access to the administration platform. Restricting admin area access to only trusted IP addresses is another effective mitigation technique to prevent unauthorized access.

In conclusion, CVE-2023-34003 is a missing authorization vulnerability that affects WooCommerce Box Office versions from n/a to 1.1.51. By exploiting this vulnerability, unauthorized users could potentially access, modify, and delete sensitive data. Staying informed about such vulnerabilities, applying security patches promptly, and implementing proper access controls can help protect your systems from such security threats.

Timeline

Published on: 06/09/2024 11:15:49 UTC
Last modified on: 06/10/2024 02:52:08 UTC