CVE-2023-51478

Build App Online <= 1.0.21 - Authentication Bypass via Header

2023-12-27 00:00
István Márton

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.0.22
Affected Plugin
Build App Online
Affected Version
<= 1.0.21
CVSS
9.8Critical
Weakness type
CWE-288 · Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel
CVE
CVE-2023-51478
View all Build App Online vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-51478 is a critical-severity Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel vulnerability in the Build App Online WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.0.21. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.0.22; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed December 2023, reported by István Márton.

Vulnerability Overview

The Build App Online plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in versions up to, and including, 1.0.21. This is due to missing authentication checking in the 'set_user_cart' function with the 'user_id' header value. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to log in as any existing user on the site, such as an administrator, if they have access to the user id.

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, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-288: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel

Build App Online <= 1.0.21 carries this weakness at set_user_cart, and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Authentication bypass through an alternate path means the application has a second route to a protected action that skips the checks the primary route performs.

The protection on the main path becomes irrelevant, because the attacker simply uses the route that never asks. For Build App Online the fix is 1.0.22: builds <= 1.0.21 are affected, anything from 1.0.22 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.0.22, 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 1.0.22 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-51478https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/743e40f6-dde3-4d8f-938e-b2a0dcdfb901https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-51478

Related records

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