CVE-2023-49755

Elementor Timeline Widget <= 2.2 - Missing Authorization to Notice Dismissal

2023-12-04 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 2.3
Affected Plugin: Vertical Timeline Widget for Elementor
Affected Version: <= 2.2
CVSS: 4.3Medium
Weakness type: CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE: CVE-2023-49755

View all Vertical Timeline Widget for Elementor vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-49755 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Vertical Timeline Widget for Elementor WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.2. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The root cause is a missing authorization check on a reachable function. The issue is fixed in version 2.3; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed December 2023, reported by Abdi Pranata.

Vulnerability Overview

The Elementor Timeline Widget plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing capability check in versions up to, and including, 2.2. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to dismiss notices

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-862: Missing Authorization

Reaching this weakness in Vertical Timeline Widget for Elementor <= 2.2 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.

Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For Vertical Timeline Widget for Elementor the fix is 2.3: builds <= 2.2 are affected, anything from 2.3 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.3, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

Because it turns on account access, WordSec's login security is the relevant layer: role-based two-factor, captcha and brute-force limits raise the cost of getting the account this needs. None of that substitutes for the fix: Vertical Timeline Widget for Elementor 2.3 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-49755 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/819b3e0c-1cd0-45f9-8621-41817ad1de5e https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-49755

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

This record contains material that is subject to copyright

CVE Usage: MITRE hereby grants you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE®). Any copy you make for such purposes is authorized provided that you reproduce MITRE's copyright designation and this license in any such copy.

https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse

Defiant hereby grants you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute this software vulnerability information. Any copy of the software vulnerability information you make for such purposes is authorized provided that you include a hyperlink to this vulnerability record and reproduce Defiant's copyright designation and this license in any such copy.

https://www.wordfence.com/wordfence-intelligence-terms-and-conditions/