10Web AI Assistant – AI content writing assistant <= 1.0.18 - Missing Authorization to Arbitrary Plugin Installation
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.0.19
- Affected Plugin
- 10Web AI Assistant – AI content writing assistant
- Affected Version
<= 1.0.18- CVSS
- 6.5Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2023-6985
At a glance
CVE-2023-6985 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the 10Web AI Assistant WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.0.18. It carries a CVSS score of 6.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high integrity impact). The root cause is a missing authorization check on a reachable function. The issue is fixed in version 1.0.19; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2024, reported by Krzysztof Zając.
Vulnerability Overview
The 10Web AI Assistant – AI content writing assistant plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing capability check on the install_plugin AJAX action in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.18. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to install arbitrary plugins that can be used to gain further access to a compromised site.
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. A successful exploit has high impact on integrity.
CWE-862: Missing Authorization
Reaching this weakness in 10Web AI Assistant <= 1.0.18 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 10Web AI Assistant the fix is 1.0.19: builds <= 1.0.18 are affected, anything from 1.0.19 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.0.19, 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: 10Web AI Assistant 1.0.19 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C