Animated Rotating Words <= 5.4 - Cross-Site Request Forgery via save_admin_options
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 5.5
- Affected Plugin
- SmartText Rotator – Add Motion to Your Words
- Affected Version
<= 5.4- CVSS
- 4.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2023-47187
At a glance
CVE-2023-47187 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the SmartText Rotator WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 5.4. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The issue is fixed in version 5.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2023, reported by Abdi Pranata.
Vulnerability Overview
The Animated Rotating Words (Interchanging Random Words in a Sentence) plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in all versions up to, and including, 5.4. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the save_admin_options function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to modify the plugin settings 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 interaction from a victim user.
CWE-862: Missing Authorization
Reaching this weakness in SmartText Rotator <= 5.4 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 SmartText Rotator the fix is 5.5: builds <= 5.4 are affected, anything from 5.5 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 5.5, 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: SmartText Rotator 5.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in SmartText Rotator – Add Motion to Your Words
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