CVE-2012-2402

WordPress Core < 3.3.2 - Authorization Bypass

2012-04-20 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 3.3.2
Affected Core: WordPress 3.3
Affected Version: <= 3.3.1
CVSS: 5.4Medium
Weakness type: CWE-863 · Incorrect Authorization
CVE: CVE-2012-2402

At a glance

CVE-2012-2402 is a medium-severity Incorrect Authorization vulnerability in the WordPress 3.3 WordPress release line, affecting <= 3.3.1. It carries a CVSS score of 5.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The issue is fixed in version 3.3.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed April 2012, reported by Jon Cave.

Vulnerability Overview

wp-admin/plugins.php in WordPress before 3.3.2 allows remote authenticated site administrators to bypass intended access restrictions and deactivate network-wide plugins via unspecified vectors.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no interaction from a victim user.

CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization

Reaching this weakness in WordPress 3.3 <= 3.3.1 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Incorrect authorization means a permission check exists but evaluates the wrong thing, so it passes for callers it was meant to stop.

The action runs for users the code intended to exclude, with the same effect as having no check at all. For WordPress 3.3 the fix is 3.3.2: builds <= 3.3.1 are affected, anything from 3.3.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.3.2, 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 3.3.2 is the step that ends it.

Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-2402 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f419b83c-9253-4ca6-a02a-7daad1819581 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-2402

Related records

Same weakness class

4.9CVE-2017-6816: WordPress Core < 4.7.3 Arbitrary File DeletionCVE-2017-6816

Other vulnerabilities in WordPress 3.3

CVSS Vector

5.4

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

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityNone
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityLow

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