A new security vulnerability dubbed CVE-2023-41953 has been discovered in the popular WordPress plugin, ProfilePress (formerly known as WP User Avatar). This vulnerability, dubbed as "Missing Authorization" can potentially allow malicious actors to perform unauthorized actions on the ProfilePress membership system.
If you are running an outdated version of the ProfilePress plugin, it’s important to understand the risk associated with this vulnerability and how to mitigate it. In this article, we will discuss the technical details of this exploit, including relevant code snippets, links to original references, and potential remediation steps.
Vulnerability Details
CVE-2023-41953, Missing Authorization vulnerability affects ProfilePress, allowing unauthenticated users to perform unauthorized actions on the membership system. This security issue impacts all versions of the plugin up to and including 4.13.1.
Check the following link for more technical information on this vulnerability
Code Snippet
The vulnerability arises from a lack of proper access checks in the plugin's AJAX actions. Here's an example of a vulnerable AJAX action:
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_some_action', function () {
// Some vulnerable code here
});
This code registers an AJAX action that is accessible not only to logged-in users (authenticated users), but also to those not logged-in (unauthenticated users). Due to this missing authorization check, the plugin becomes susceptible to unauthorized access.
Exploit Details
To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker can make requests to the ProfilePress AJAX endpoints, as illustrated in the following code snippet:
GET /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=some_action&some_parameter=malicious_value HTTP/1.1
Host: target-site.com
The attacker doesn’t need to be logged in or have any privileges on the target site to perform this action. They can simply send requests to the specified endpoint, potentially providing a way to execute unauthorized functions on the plugin.
Mitigation
To protect your WordPress site from this vulnerability, it's recommended to update your ProfilePress plugin immediately to the latest version 4.13.2. The developers of the plugin have released this patch to address the Missing Authorization vulnerability.
Here's the official changelog for the patch that includes the security fix
Summary
In conclusion, the Missing Authorization vulnerability found in the ProfilePress plugin, CVE-2023-41953, poses a severe risk to WordPress sites running outdated versions of the plugin. Make sure to upgrade your ProfilePress plugin to version 4.13.2 or later to eliminate the risk associated with this exploit. Always stay vigilant about updates and security patches, as they can help protect your site from potential harm.
Timeline
Published on: 12/09/2024 13:16:49 UTC
Last modified on: 12/09/2024 13:17:48 UTC