CVE-2017-5488

WordPress Core < 4.7.1 - Cross-Site Scripting via Name and Version Header of Plugin

2017-01-11 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 3.7.17
Affected Core: WordPress 4.7
Affected Version: 3.7 – 4.7.0 · 12 branches
CVSS: 5.5Medium
Weakness type: CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE: CVE-2017-5488

At a glance

CVE-2017-5488 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the WordPress 4.7 WordPress release line, affecting 3.7 – 4.7.0 · 12 branches. It carries a CVSS score of 5.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The issue is fixed in version 3.7.17; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2017, reported by Dominik Schilling.

Vulnerability Overview

Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in wp-admin/update-core.php in WordPress before 4.7.1 allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) name or (2) version header of a plugin.

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

Reaching this weakness in WordPress 4.7 3.7 – 4.7.0 · 12 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 4.7 the fix is 3.7.17: builds 3.7 – 4.7.0 · 12 branches are affected, anything from 3.7.17 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to one of the following versions, or a newer patched version: 3.7.17, 3.8.17, 3.9.15, 4.0.14, 4.1.14, 4.2.11, 4.3.7, 4.4.6, 4.5.5, 4.6.2, 4.7.1

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to WordPress 4.7: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: updating to 3.7.17 is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-5488 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f4a4e3ef-ee88-4175-8628-c5511c20bf23 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5488

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in WordPress 4.7

CVSS Vector

5.5

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

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredHigh
User InteractionNone
ScopeChanged
ConfidentialityLow
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityNone

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