CVE-2014-8877

CM Download Manager <= 2.0.3 - Code Injection

2014-11-10 00:00
Phi Le Ngoc

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 2.0.4
Affected Plugin
CM Download Manager – Organize, Protect & Share Files in WordPress
Affected Version
<= 2.0.3
CVSS
9.8Critical
Weakness type
CWE-94 · Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
CVE
CVE-2014-8877
View all CM Download Manager – Organize, Protect & Share Files in WordPress vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2014-8877 is a critical-severity Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability in the CM Download Manager WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.0.3. 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 2.0.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2014, reported by Phi Le Ngoc.

Vulnerability Overview

The alterSearchQuery function in lib/controllers/CmdownloadController.php in the CreativeMinds CM Downloads Manager plugin before 2.0.4 for WordPress allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary PHP code via the CMDsearch parameter to cmdownloads/, which is processed by the PHP create_function function.

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-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')

Reaching this weakness in CM Download Manager <= 2.0.3 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Code injection means input from a request reaches a language construct that evaluates code, so the attacker's text is executed rather than treated as data.

The injected code runs with the web server's privileges, giving the attacker the same access to the database and filesystem as WordPress itself. For CM Download Manager the fix is 2.0.4: builds <= 2.0.3 are affected, anything from 2.0.4 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.0.4, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to CM Download Manager: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. None of that substitutes for the fix: CM Download Manager 2.0.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-8877https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/0d517094-8038-4951-b16a-db7bf2c31851https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-8877

Related records

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