CVE-2023-0477

Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) <= 3.9.15 - Authenticated (Author+) Arbitrary File Upload

2023-02-07 00:00
dc11

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.9.16
Affected Plugin
Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail)
Affected Version
<= 3.9.15
CVSS
7.2High
Weakness type
CWE-434 · Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
CVE
CVE-2023-0477
View all Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-0477 is a high-severity Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type vulnerability in the Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.9.15. It carries a CVSS score of 7.2 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Author level or above. The issue is fixed in version 3.9.16; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed February 2023, reported by dc11.

Vulnerability Overview

The Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary File Upload due to insufficient file type validation in versions up to, and including, 3.9.15. This allows authenticated users with author-level permissions to upload arbitrary files from remote sources onto the affected site's server which may make remote code execution possible.

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 confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-434: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type

Reaching this weakness in Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) <= 3.9.15 takes an account at Author level or above. An unrestricted file upload lets a caller store a file whose type or destination the application does not properly constrain.

If an uploaded file lands anywhere the server will execute, the flaw becomes remote code execution and the site should be treated as fully compromised. For Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) the fix is 3.9.16: builds <= 3.9.15 are affected, anything from 3.9.16 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.9.16, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Author 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. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 3.9.16 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-0477https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/18ff2556-9e20-42f6-a8fb-b81473c42576https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-0477

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C