Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Plugin
- Downloads Manager
- Affected Version
<= 0.2- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-434 · Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
- CVE
CVE-2008-3362
At a glance
CVE-2008-3362 is a critical-severity Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type vulnerability in the Downloads Manager WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 0.2. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed July 2008, reported by SaO.
Vulnerability Overview
The Downloads Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file uploads due to missing file type validation on files supplied via the 'upfile' parameter in versions up to, and including, 0.2. This makes it possible for attackers to upload arbitrary files on the affected sites server which may make remote code execution possible when accessed from the wp-content/plugins/downloads-manager/upload/ directory.
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-434: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
Downloads Manager <= 0.2 carries this weakness at upfile, and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. An unrestricted file upload lets a caller store a file whose type or destination the application does not properly constrain.
If an uploaded file lands anywhere the server will execute, the flaw becomes remote code execution and the site should be treated as fully compromised. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for Downloads Manager yet, so installs running <= 0.2 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.
Remediation
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
How does WordSec protect against this?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Downloads 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. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.
- Firewall
- Scanner
- Alerts
External References
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