CVE-2023-5241

AI ChatBot <= 4.8.9 and 4.9.2 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Directory Traversal to Arbitrary File Write via qcld_openai_upload_pagetraining_file

2023-10-11 00:00
Marco Wotschka

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 4.9.1
Affected Plugin
WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services
Affected Version
4.8.9 – 4.9.2 · 2 branches
CVSS
9.6Critical
Weakness type
CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE
CVE-2023-5241
View all WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-5241 is a critical-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the WPBot WordPress plugin, affecting versions 4.8.9 – 4.9.2 · 2 branches. It carries a CVSS score of 9.6 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. The issue is fixed in version 4.9.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2023, reported by Marco Wotschka.

Vulnerability Overview

The AI ChatBot for WordPress is vulnerable to Directory Traversal in versions up to, and including, 4.8.9 as well as 4.9.2 via the qcld_openai_upload_pagetraining_file function. This allows subscriber-level attackers to append "<?php" to any existing file on the server resulting in potential DoS when appended to critical files such as 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 interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on integrity, availability.

CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

Reaching this weakness in WPBot 4.8.9 – 4.9.2 · 2 branches takes an account at Subscriber level or above. Path traversal happens when user-controlled text is used to build a filesystem path without being constrained to an intended directory, so sequences like ../ walk the resolved path somewhere else.

Depending on the operation, it means reading files outside the intended folder — wp-config.php being the usual target — or writing to and deleting paths the web server can touch. For WPBot the fix is 4.9.1: builds 4.8.9 – 4.9.2 · 2 branches are affected, anything from 4.9.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to one of the following versions, or a newer patched version: 4.9.1, 4.9.3

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Subscriber access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: WPBot 4.9.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-5241https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/25199281-5286-4d75-8d27-26ce215e0993https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-5241

Related records

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