CVE-2008-1930

WordPress Core < 2.5.1 - Authentication Bypass

2008-04-25 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 2.5.1
Affected Core: WordPress 2.5
Affected Version: <= 2.5
CVSS: 8.1High
Weakness type: CWE-288 · Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel
CVE: CVE-2008-1930

At a glance

CVE-2008-1930 is a high-severity Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel vulnerability in the WordPress 2.5 WordPress release line, affecting <= 2.5. It carries a CVSS score of 8.1 (reachable over the network; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.5.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed April 2008.

Vulnerability Overview

The cookie authentication method in WordPress 2.5 relies on a hash of a concatenated string containing USERNAME and EXPIRY_TIME, which allows remote attackers to forge cookies by registering a username that results in the same concatenated string, as demonstrated by registering usernames beginning with "admin" to obtain administrator privileges, aka a "cryptographic splicing" issue. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2007-6013.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, and no privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-288: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel

WordPress 2.5 <= 2.5 carries this weakness at admin, and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Authentication bypass through an alternate path means the application has a second route to a protected action that skips the checks the primary route performs.

The protection on the main path becomes irrelevant, because the attacker simply uses the route that never asks. For WordPress 2.5 the fix is 2.5.1: builds <= 2.5 are affected, anything from 2.5.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.5.1, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

Because it turns on account access, WordSec's login security is the relevant layer: role-based two-factor, captcha and brute-force limits raise the cost of getting the account this needs. None of that substitutes for the fix: updating to 2.5.1 is the step that ends it.

Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-1930 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/0a16651c-613b-462b-9d73-10a74892ecdc https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-1930

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in WordPress 2.5

CVSS Vector

8.1

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityHigh
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

This record contains material that is subject to copyright

CVE Usage: MITRE hereby grants you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE®). Any copy you make for such purposes is authorized provided that you reproduce MITRE's copyright designation and this license in any such copy.

https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse

Defiant hereby grants you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute this software vulnerability information. Any copy of the software vulnerability information you make for such purposes is authorized provided that you include a hyperlink to this vulnerability record and reproduce Defiant's copyright designation and this license in any such copy.

https://www.wordfence.com/wordfence-intelligence-terms-and-conditions/