BAN Users <= 1.5.3 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Settings Update & Privilege Escalation
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Plugin
- BAN Users
- Affected Version
<= 1.5.3- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-266 · Incorrect Privilege Assignment
- CVE
CVE-2023-4153
At a glance
CVE-2023-4153 is a high-severity Incorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerability in the BAN Users WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.5.3. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed September 2023, reported by István Márton.
Vulnerability Overview
The BAN Users plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in versions up to, and including, 1.5.3 due to a missing capability check on the 'w3dev_save_ban_user_settings_callback' function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with minimal permissions such as a subscriber, to modify the plugin settings to access the ban and unban functionality and set the role of the unbanned user.
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-266: Incorrect Privilege Assignment
A product incorrectly assigns a privilege to a particular actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
Remediation
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
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. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C