Anti Hacker <= 4.19 - Missing Authorization to Arbitrary Plugin Install
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 4.20
- Affected Plugin
- Disable Json API, Login Lockdown, XMLRPC, Pingback, Stop User Enumeration Anti Hacker Scan
- Affected Version
<= 4.19- CVSS
- 6.5Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-284 · Improper Access Control
- CVE
CVE-2022-3880
At a glance
CVE-2022-3880 is a medium-severity Improper Access Control vulnerability in the Disable Json API, Login Lockdown, XMLRPC, Pingback, Stop User Enumeration Anti Hacker Scan WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.19. 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 4.20; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2022, reported by István Márton.
Vulnerability Overview
The Anti Hacker plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass due to a missing capability check on the antihacker_install_plugin() function in versions up to, and including, 4.19. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with minimal permission, such as a subscriber, to install arbitrary plugins on the vulnerable site. This could be used to install additional vulnerable plugins that could aid in further compromise of the 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-284: Improper Access Control
Disable Json API, Login Lockdown, XMLRPC, Pingback, Stop User Enumeration Anti Hacker Scan <= 4.19 carries this weakness at antihacker_install_plugin(), and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper access control means the code decides what a caller may do using something other than their actual permissions, so the decision can be wrong without any check appearing to be missing.
Whoever can shape the request decides the answer, so the protected action runs for callers the code never meant to allow. For Disable Json API, Login Lockdown, XMLRPC, Pingback, Stop User Enumeration Anti Hacker Scan the fix is 4.20: builds <= 4.19 are affected, anything from 4.20 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 4.20, 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: Disable Json API, Login Lockdown, XMLRPC, Pingback, Stop User Enumeration Anti Hacker Scan 4.20 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Disable Json API, Login Lockdown, XMLRPC, Pingback, Stop User Enumeration Anti Hacker Scan
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C