Caldera Forms Pro < 1.8.2 - Missing Authorization

2019-03-13 00:00
Marc-Alexandre Montpas

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.7.7
Affected Plugin
Caldera Forms Pro
Affected Version
1.7.6 – < 1.8.2 · 2 branches
CVSS
9.8Critical
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE pending
View all Caldera Forms Pro vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a critical-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Caldera Forms Pro WordPress plugin, affecting versions 1.7.6 – < 1.8.2 · 2 branches. 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 1.7.7; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2019, reported by Marc-Alexandre Montpas.

Vulnerability Overview

The Caldera Forms Pro plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass due to a missing capability check on the register_rest_route function in versions, up to and including, 1.7.6 in the 1.7.x branch, and 1.8.1 in the 1.8.x branch. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files, including wp-config.php.

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-862: Missing Authorization

Reaching this weakness in Caldera Forms Pro 1.7.6 – < 1.8.2 · 2 branches takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. 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 Caldera Forms Pro the fix is 1.7.7: builds 1.7.6 – < 1.8.2 · 2 branches are affected, anything from 1.7.7 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to one of the following versions, or a newer patched version: 1.7.7, 1.8.2

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: Caldera Forms Pro 1.7.7 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

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