CVE-2011-3122

WordPress Core < 3.1.3 - Media Related Security Issue

2011-05-25 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 3.2
Affected Core: WordPress 3.1
Affected Version: <= 3.1.2
CVSS: 6.3Medium
Weakness type: CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE: CVE-2011-3122

At a glance

CVE-2011-3122 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the WordPress 3.1 WordPress release line, affecting <= 3.1.2. It carries a CVSS score of 6.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The issue is fixed in version 3.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2011, reported by Richard Lundeen of Microsoft.

Vulnerability Overview

Unspecified vulnerability in WordPress 3.1 before 3.1.3 and 3.2 before Beta 2 has unknown impact and attack vectors related to "Media security."

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-862: Missing Authorization

Reaching this weakness in WordPress 3.1 <= 3.1.2 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.

Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For WordPress 3.1 the fix is 3.2: builds <= 3.1.2 are affected, anything from 3.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 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 3.2 is the step that ends it.

Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-3122 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/2d0529df-70be-4559-a760-5537e0fd4d1e https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-3122

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in WordPress 3.1

CVSS Vector

6.3

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

Base

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

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