CVE-2019-17670

WordPress Core < 5.2.4 - Server Side Request Forgery #2

2019-10-14 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 3.7.31
Affected Core: WordPress 5.2
Affected Version: 3.7 – 5.2.3 · 17 branches
CVSS: 5.4Medium
Weakness type: CWE-918 · Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)
CVE: CVE-2019-17670

At a glance

CVE-2019-17670 is a medium-severity Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in the WordPress 5.2 WordPress release line, affecting 3.7 – 5.2.3 · 17 branches. It carries a CVSS score of 5.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The issue is fixed in version 3.7.31; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2019, reported by Eugene Kolodenker.

Vulnerability Overview

WordPress before 5.2.4 has a Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability because Windows paths are mishandled during certain validation of relative URLs.

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-918: Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

Reaching this weakness in WordPress 5.2 3.7 – 5.2.3 · 17 branches takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Server-side request forgery means the application fetches a URL supplied by the caller, turning the server into a proxy for requests the attacker could not make directly.

The request originates from inside the hosting network, which is how these flaws reach cloud metadata endpoints, internal admin panels and services that trust local traffic. For WordPress 5.2 the fix is 3.7.31: builds 3.7 – 5.2.3 · 17 branches are affected, anything from 3.7.31 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to one of the following versions, or a newer patched version: 3.7.31, 3.8.31, 3.9.29, 4.0.28, 4.1.28, 4.2.25, 4.3.21, 4.4.20, 4.5.19, 4.6.16, 4.7.14, 4.8.11, 4.9.12, 5.0.7, 5.1.3, 5.2.4

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to WordPress 5.2: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: updating to 3.7.31 is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-17670 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/d6a51962-fe99-4911-85c9-a75bd18e74c2 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-17670

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in WordPress 5.2

CVSS Vector

5.4

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

Base

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

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