CVE-2023-51479

Build App Online <= 1.0.20 - Missing Authorization Authenticated(Subscriber+) Arbitrary Options Update

2023-12-27 00:00
Rafie Muhammad

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.0.21
Affected Plugin
Build App Online
Affected Version
<= 1.0.20
CVSS
8.8High
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE-2023-51479
View all Build App Online vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-51479 is a high-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Build App Online WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.0.20. 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. The issue is fixed in version 1.0.21; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed December 2023, reported by Rafie Muhammad.

Vulnerability Overview

The Build App Online plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing capability check on the 'update_user_meta' and 'update_user_meta_value' functions in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.20. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber access and above, to update arbitrary user meta values and grant themselves administrator privileges.

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-862: Missing Authorization

Build App Online <= 1.0.20 carries this weakness at update_user_meta, 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 Build App Online the fix is 1.0.21: builds <= 1.0.20 are affected, anything from 1.0.21 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.0.21, 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: Build App Online 1.0.21 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-51479https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e3551218-e272-4c96-94fe-9db0aee0d4f4https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-51479

Related records

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