BuddyPress - 7.0.0 - 7.2.0 - Insufficient Privilege De-escalation

2021-03-16 00:00
Anonymous

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 7.2.1
Affected Plugin
BuddyPress
Affected Version
7.0.0 – < 7.2.1
CVSS
4.6Medium
Weakness type
CWE-266 · Incorrect Privilege Assignment
CVE
CVE pending
View all BuddyPress vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a medium-severity Incorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerability in the BuddyPress WordPress plugin, affecting versions 7.0.0 – < 7.2.1. It carries a CVSS score of 4.6 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The issue is fixed in version 7.2.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2021.

Vulnerability Overview

The BuddyPress plugin for WordPress was vulnerable to authorization bypass due to a misconfiguration in how the plugin handled downgrading administrative level users to subscriber level in versions 7.0.0 - 7.2.0. This allowed subscriber level users to modify BuddyPress Member Types.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed.

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

Update to version 7.2.1, 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: BuddyPress 7.2.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/5d7bcd71-e299-47fe-a749-e72c49b8129e

Related records

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