Crayon Syntax Highlighter 2.0 - 2.6.10 - Missing Authorization

2015-04-20 00:00
James Hooker

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 2.7.0
Affected Plugin
Crayon Syntax Highlighter
Affected Version
2.0 – 2.6.10
CVSS
5.4Medium
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE pending
View all Crayon Syntax Highlighter vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Crayon Syntax Highlighter WordPress plugin, affecting versions 2.0 – 2.6.10. It carries a CVSS score of 5.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The root cause is a missing authorization check on a reachable function. The issue is fixed in version 2.7.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed April 2015, reported by James Hooker.

Vulnerability Overview

The Crayon Syntax Highlighter Plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass due to a missing capability check on the crayon-theme-editor-save AJAX action in versions 2.0 - 2.6.10. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level permissions and above, to overwrite theme files.

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.

CWE-862: Missing Authorization

Reaching this weakness in Crayon Syntax Highlighter 2.0 – 2.6.10 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 Crayon Syntax Highlighter the fix is 2.7.0: builds 2.0 – 2.6.10 are affected, anything from 2.7.0 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.7.0, 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: Crayon Syntax Highlighter 2.7.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/6cd49c60-e845-4dbb-b6b1-bd59aa1bb3ba

Related records

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