The Translate WordPress with GTranslate plugin plays an essential role in translating WordPress websites into multiple languages and is widely popular among the WordPress community. However, researchers have recently discovered a security vulnerability in the GTranslate plugin versions before 3..4, which allows high privilege users, such as administrators, to perform Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks. This post provides an in-depth analysis of this vulnerability and its implications, along with the necessary details to understand and mitigate the risk.

Official References:

- Original advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/259630/gtranslate
- CVE details: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2023-4502
- Related plugin: https://wordpress.org/plugins/gtranslate/

Understanding the vulnerability

The GTranslate plugin does not sanitize and escape some of its settings, which can be exploited by high privilege users such as administrators. In certain configurations, like the multisite setup, the unfiltered_html capability is disallowed, but the vulnerability can still be triggered, making it a significant risk for WordPress site owners using the GTranslate plugin.

Code snippet

In the following code snippet taken from the affected plugin's files, we can see an example of the vulnerable parameters that are not properly sanitized and escaped. This vulnerability affects multiple parameters within the plugin.

$gTranslate_config = array();
$gTranslate_config['language'] = 'en';
$gTranslate_config['floating_widget'] = '1';
$gTranslate_config['analytics'] = '';
$gTranslate_config['language_selector'] = '';

if(isset($_POST['submit'])){
    if(check_admin_referer()){
        $gTranslate_config['language'] = stripslashes($_POST['language']);
        $gTranslate_config['floating_widget'] = stripslashes($_POST['floating_widget']);
        $gTranslate_config['analytics'] = stripslashes($_POST['analytics']);
        $gTranslate_config['language_selector'] = stripslashes($_POST['language_selector']);
    }
}

Exploit

On a vulnerable website, an attacker with admin privileges can exploit by injecting malicious JavaScript code into one of the affected parameters. For example, they could add the following XSS payload into the analytics parameter:

<script>alert("XSS Vulnerability")</script>

Upon saving the settings and loading the affected site/page, the XSS payload will be executed, potentially escalating to more serious attacks, depending on the attacker's motives.

Mitigation

The developer of the GTranslate plugin has released an updated version (3..4) to address this vulnerability, so it is highly recommended to update your plugin to the latest version immediately to mitigate the risk associated with this vulnerability. Updating your plugin can be done from your WordPress dashboard or by downloading the updated version from the plugin's official webpage. Always keep your WordPress core, themes, and plugins updated to ensure site security and protect from known vulnerabilities.

Conclusion

CVE-2023-4502 highlights the importance of keeping your WordPress site, themes, and plugins up-to-date. Developers and site administrators should be vigilant in addressing vulnerabilities promptly and using secure coding practices to mitigate potential security risks. If you are using the GTranslate plugin, update to version 3..4 or newer immediately to protect your site from potential Stored Cross-Site Scripting attacks.

Timeline

Published on: 09/25/2023 16:15:15 UTC
Last modified on: 11/07/2023 04:22:40 UTC