CVE-2024-32111

WordPress Core < 6.5.5 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Directory Traversal

2024-06-24 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 4.1.41
Affected Core: WordPress 6.5
Affected Version: 4.1 – 6.5.4 · 26 branches
CVSS: 4.3Medium
Weakness type: CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE: CVE-2024-32111

At a glance

CVE-2024-32111 is a medium-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the WordPress 6.5 WordPress release line, affecting 4.1 – 6.5.4 · 26 branches. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Contributor level or above. The issue is fixed in version 4.1.41; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed June 2024, reported by apple502j.

Vulnerability Overview

WordPress Core is vulnerable to Directory Traversal in various versions up to 6.5.5 via the Template Part block. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to include arbitrary HTML Files on sites running Windows.

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-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

Reaching this weakness in WordPress 6.5 4.1 – 6.5.4 · 26 branches takes an account at Contributor level or above. Path traversal happens when user-controlled text is used to build a filesystem path without being constrained to an intended directory, so sequences like ../ walk the resolved path somewhere else.

Depending on the operation, it means reading files outside the intended folder — wp-config.php being the usual target — or writing to and deleting paths the web server can touch. For WordPress 6.5 the fix is 4.1.41: builds 4.1 – 6.5.4 · 26 branches are affected, anything from 4.1.41 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to one of the following versions, or a newer patched version: 4.1.41, 4.2.38, 4.3.34, 4.4.33, 4.5.32, 4.6.29, 4.7.29, 4.8.25, 4.9.26, 5.0.22, 5.1.19, 5.2.21, 5.3.18, 5.4.16, 5.5.15, 5.6.14, 5.7.12, 5.8.10, 5.9.10, 6.0.9, 6.1.7, 6.2.6, 6.3.5, 6.4.5, 6.5.5

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Contributor access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: updating to 4.1.41 is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-32111 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/4af2b01b-2dcb-44ae-a764-8ecc5f8caa81 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-32111

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in WordPress 6.5

CVSS Vector

4.3

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

Base

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

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