BackupWordPress <= 3.12 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Information Disclosure
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 3.13
- Affected Plugin
- BackUpWordPress
- Affected Version
3.12- CVSS
- 4.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2022-4931
At a glance
CVE-2022-4931 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the BackUpWordPress WordPress plugin, affecting versions 3.12. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. The issue is fixed in version 3.13; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed February 2022, reported by Ram.
Vulnerability Overview
The BackupWordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to information disclosure in versions up to, and including 3.12. This is due to missing authorization on the heartbeat_received() function that triggers on WordPress heartbeat. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level permissions and above to retrieve back-up paths that can subsequently be used to download the back-up.
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.
CWE-862: Missing Authorization
BackUpWordPress 3.12 carries this weakness at heartbeat_received(), and reaching it takes an account at Subscriber level or above. 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 BackUpWordPress the fix is 3.13: builds 3.12 are affected, anything from 3.13 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 3.13, 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: BackUpWordPress 3.13 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in BackUpWordPress
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