CVE-2022-4973

WordPress Core < 6.0.2 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via use of the_meta(); function

2022-08-30 00:00
John Blackbourn

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.7.39
Affected Core
WordPress 6.0
Affected Version
3.6.1 – 6.0.1 · 25 branches
CVSS
4.9Medium
Weakness type
CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE
CVE-2022-4973
View all WordPress 6.0 vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2022-4973 is a medium-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 – 6.0.1 · 25 branches. It carries a CVSS score of 4.9 (reachable over the network). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Contributor level or above. The issue is fixed in version 3.7.39; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2022, reported by John Blackbourn.

Vulnerability Overview

WordPress Core, in versions up to 6.0.2, is vulnerable to Authenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting that can be exploited by users with access to the WordPress post and page editor, typically consisting of Authors, Contributors, and Editors making it possible to inject arbitrary web scripts into posts and pages that execute if the the_meta(); function is called on that page.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, and no interaction from a victim user.

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

WordPress 6.0 3.6.1 – 6.0.1 · 25 branches carries this weakness at the_meta(), and reaching it takes an account at Contributor level or above. 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 3.7.39: builds 3.6.1 – 6.0.1 · 25 branches are affected, anything from 3.7.39 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to one of the following versions, or a newer patched version: 3.7.39, 3.8.39, 3.9.37, 4.0.36, 4.1.36, 4.2.33, 4.3.29, 4.4.28, 4.5.27, 4.6.24, 4.7.24, 4.8.20, 4.9.21, 5.0.17, 5.1.14, 5.2.16, 5.3.13, 5.4.11, 5.5.10, 5.6.9, 5.7.7, 5.8.5, 5.9.4, 6.0.2

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 3.7.39 is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-4973https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/b5582e89-83e6-4898-b9fe-09eddeb5f7aehttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-4973

Related records

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