WP Markdown Editor (Formerly Dark Mode) < 1.7 - Stored Cross-Site Scripting
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.7
- Affected Plugin
- Markdown Editor (Formerly Dark Mode)
- Affected Version
< 1.7- CVSS
- 6.4Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
- CVE
CVE-2018-5652
At a glance
CVE-2018-5652 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the Markdown Editor (Formerly Dark Mode) WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 1.7. It carries a CVSS score of 6.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The issue is fixed in version 1.7; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2018, reported by d4wner.
Vulnerability Overview
An issue was discovered in the dark-mode plugin 1.6 for WordPress. XSS exists via the wp-admin/profile.php dark_mode_end parameter.
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-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Reaching this weakness in Markdown Editor (Formerly Dark Mode) < 1.7 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 Markdown Editor (Formerly Dark Mode) the fix is 1.7: builds < 1.7 are affected, anything from 1.7 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.7, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Markdown Editor (Formerly Dark Mode): WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Markdown Editor (Formerly Dark Mode) 1.7 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Markdown Editor (Formerly Dark Mode)
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