CVE-2022-43497

WordPress Core < 6.0.3 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via SQL Injection

2022-10-18 00:00
Ben Bidner

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.7.40
Affected Core
WordPress 6.0
Affected Version
3.6.1 – 6.0.2 · 25 branches
CVSS
8.8High
Weakness type
CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE
CVE-2022-43497
View all WordPress 6.0 vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2022-43497 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the WordPress 6.0 WordPress release line, affecting 3.6.1 – 6.0.2 · 25 branches. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). The issue is fixed in version 3.7.40; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2022, reported by Ben Bidner.

Vulnerability Overview

WordPress Core is vulnerable to SQL Injection in the Media Library that can be leveraged to exploit a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting issue in versions up to 6.0.3. This is due to insufficient escaping on user supplied values passed to a SQL query. This makes it possible for an attacker to achieved JavaScript code execution in a victims browser, granted they can trick the victim into performing an action such as clicking on a link.

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. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

Reaching this weakness in WordPress 6.0 3.6.1 – 6.0.2 · 25 branches takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Cross-site scripting happens when input from a request is written into a page without being escaped for the context it lands in, so the browser parses attacker-supplied text as markup or script.

Injected script runs with the privileges of whoever views the affected page, which is how these flaws turn into administrator session theft, silent account creation or persistent backdoors in page content. For WordPress 6.0 the fix is 3.7.40: builds 3.6.1 – 6.0.2 · 25 branches are affected, anything from 3.7.40 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to one of the following versions, or a newer patched version: 3.7.40, 3.8.40, 3.9.38, 4.0.37, 4.1.37, 4.2.34, 4.3.30, 4.4.29, 4.5.28, 4.6.25, 4.7.25, 4.8.21, 4.9.22, 5.0.18, 5.1.15, 5.2.17, 5.3.14, 5.4.12, 5.5.11, 5.6.10, 5.7.8, 5.8.6, 5.9.5, 6.0.3

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to WordPress 6.0: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: updating to 3.7.40 is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-43497https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/6f6aa094-6bac-463f-b46d-c65f591abbb3https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-43497

Related records

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