Category Post List Widget <= 2.0 - Cross-Site Request Forgery via get_cplw_settings
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Plugin
- Category Post List Widget
- Affected Version
<= 2.0- CVSS
- 6.1Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
- CVE
CVE-2023-47516
At a glance
CVE-2023-47516 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the Category Post List Widget WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.0. It carries a CVSS score of 6.1 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed November 2023, reported by LEE SE HYOUNG.
Vulnerability Overview
The Category Post List Widget plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in all versions up to, and including, 2.0. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the get_cplw_settings function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to change the plugin's settings, including injecting XSS, via a forged request granted they can trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.
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.
CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Reaching this weakness in Category Post List Widget <= 2.0 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Cross-site scripting happens when input from a request is written into a page without being escaped for the context it lands in, so the browser parses attacker-supplied text as markup or script.
Injected script runs with the privileges of whoever views the affected page, which is how these flaws turn into administrator session theft, silent account creation or persistent backdoors in page content. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for Category Post List Widget yet, so installs running <= 2.0 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.
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?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Category Post List Widget: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
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