404 to 301 – Redirect, Log and Notify 404 Errors <= 3.1.1 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 3.1.2
- Affected Version
<= 3.1.1- CVSS
- 6.1Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
- CVE
CVE pending
At a glance
This record tracks a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the 404 to 301 WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.1.1. It carries a CVSS score of 6.1 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 3.1.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed June 2022.
Vulnerability Overview
The 404 to 301 – Redirect, Log and Notify 404 Errors plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting due to the use of add_query_arg without appropriate escaping on the URL in versions up to, and including, 3.1.1. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that execute if they can successfully trick a user into performing an action such as clicking on a link. This is only exploitable if the plugin has been installed for a week and the review notice has not been dismissed.
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 privileges on the target site.
CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Reaching this weakness in 404 to 301 <= 3.1.1 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 404 to 301 the fix is 3.1.2: builds <= 3.1.1 are affected, anything from 3.1.2 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 3.1.2, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to 404 to 301: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: 404 to 301 3.1.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring
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