CVE-2010-5293

WordPress Core < 3.0.2 - Spam Protection Bypass

2010-11-30 00:00
Anonymous

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.0.2
Affected Core
WordPress 3.0
Affected Version
< 3.0.2
CVSS
5.3Medium
Weakness type
CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
CVE
CVE-2010-5293
View all WordPress 3.0 vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2010-5293 is a medium-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the WordPress 3.0 WordPress release line, affecting < 3.0.2. It carries a CVSS score of 5.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 3.0.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2010.

Vulnerability Overview

wp-includes/comment.php in WordPress before 3.0.2 does not properly whitelist trackbacks and pingbacks in the blogroll, which allows remote attackers to bypass intended spam restrictions via a crafted URL, as demonstrated by a URL that triggers a substring match.

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 privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user.

CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key

Reaching this weakness in WordPress 3.0 < 3.0.2 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Authorization bypass through a user-controlled key, often called insecure direct object reference, means the application looks up a record by an identifier from the request without checking that the caller owns it.

Changing a number in the request is enough to read or modify other users' records, which on commerce and membership sites means customer data. For WordPress 3.0 the fix is 3.0.2: builds < 3.0.2 are affected, anything from 3.0.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.0.2, 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 3.0.2 is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2010-5293https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/12072b77-fe68-4304-8230-7c137a8d05achttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2010-5293

Related records

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