JetBackup – WP Backup, Migrate & Restore <= 1.3.9 - Cross-Site Request Forgery to Arbitrary File Upload
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.4.0
- Affected Plugin
- JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate
- Affected Version
<= 1.3.9- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-352 · Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
- CVE
CVE-2020-36669
At a glance
CVE-2020-36669 is a high-severity Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the JetBackup WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.3.9. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.4.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2020, reported by Chloe Chamberland.
Vulnerability Overview
The JetBackup – WP Backup, Migrate & Restore plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in versions up to, and including 1.3.9. This is due to missing nonce validation on the backup_guard_get_import_backup() function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to upload arbitrary files to the vulnerable site's server via a forged request, granted they can trick a site's administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.
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. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
JetBackup <= 1.3.9 carries this weakness at backup_guard_get_import_backup(), and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Cross-site request forgery abuses the fact that browsers attach a victim's cookies to any request, so a state-changing action that only checks who you are, not whether you meant to act, can be triggered from another site.
An attacker who gets a logged-in user to load a crafted page can perform that action as them, with the impact scaling to whatever the victim's role is allowed to do. For JetBackup the fix is 1.4.0: builds <= 1.3.9 are affected, anything from 1.4.0 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.4.0, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to JetBackup: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: JetBackup 1.4.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate
- 9.8CVE-2023-7165: JetBackup <= 2.0.9.7 Sensitive Information Exposure
CVE-2023-7165 - 8.8WordPress Backup and Migrate Plugin Arbitrary File Upload
- 7.2CVE-2021-24155: Backup Guard <= 1.5.9 Arbitrary File Upload
CVE-2021-24155 - 6.3CVE-2026-19453: JetBackup Privilege Escalation
CVE-2026-19453 - 6.1CVE-2017-10837: BackupGuard <= 1.1.46 Reflected Cross-Site Scripting
CVE-2017-10837 - 6.1CVE-2017-18488: Backup Guard <= 1.1.46 Cross-Site Scripting
CVE-2017-18488 - 5.5CVE-2022-34148: Backup Guard <= 1.6.9 Stored Cross-Site Scripting
CVE-2022-34148 - 5.4CVE-2020-36667: JetBackup Unauthorized Backup Location Change
CVE-2020-36667
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