CVE-2021-24214

OpenID Connect Generic Client 3.8.0-3.8.1 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting

2021-04-07 00:00
Austin Bentley

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.8.2
Affected Version
3.8.0 – < 3.8.2
CVSS
6.1Medium
Weakness type
CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE
CVE-2021-24214
View all OpenID Connect Generic Client vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2021-24214 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the OpenID Connect Generic Client WordPress plugin, affecting versions 3.8.0 – < 3.8.2. It carries a CVSS score of 6.1 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 3.8.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed April 2021, reported by Austin Bentley.

Vulnerability Overview

The OpenID Connect Generic Client WordPress plugin 3.8.0 and 3.8.1 did not sanitise the login error when output back in the login form, leading to a reflected Cross-Site Scripting issue. This issue does not require authentication and can be exploited with the default configuration.

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 OpenID Connect Generic Client 3.8.0 – < 3.8.2 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. For OpenID Connect Generic Client the fix is 3.8.2: builds 3.8.0 – < 3.8.2 are affected, anything from 3.8.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.8.2, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to OpenID Connect Generic Client: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: OpenID Connect Generic Client 3.8.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

Related records

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