CVE-2009-2762

WordPress Core < 2.8.4 - Forced Password Reset

2009-08-12 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 2.8.4
Affected Core: WordPress 2.8
Affected Version: <= 2.8.3
CVSS: 7.5High
Weakness type: CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
CVE: CVE-2009-2762

At a glance

CVE-2009-2762 is a high-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the WordPress 2.8 WordPress release line, affecting <= 2.8.3. It carries a CVSS score of 7.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high integrity impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.8.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2009.

Vulnerability Overview

wp-login.php in WordPress 2.8.3 and earlier allows remote attackers to force a password reset for the first user in the database, possibly the administrator, via a key[] array variable in a resetpass (aka rp) action, which bypasses a check that assumes that $key is not an array.

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. A successful exploit has high impact on integrity.

CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key

Reaching this weakness in WordPress 2.8 <= 2.8.3 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 2.8 the fix is 2.8.4: builds <= 2.8.3 are affected, anything from 2.8.4 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.8.4, 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 2.8.4 is the step that ends it.

Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-2762 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/d928b738-d8ed-447a-b604-e71e90d4d23d https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-2762

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in WordPress 2.8

CVSS Vector

7.5

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

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityNone
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityNone

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