Email Verification for WooCommerce <= 1.8.1 - Authentication Bypass

2020-07-14 00:00
Michal Lipinski

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.8.2
Affected Plugin
Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce
Affected Version
<= 1.8.1
CVSS
8.8High
Weakness type
CWE-287 · Improper Authentication
CVE
CVE pending
View all Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a high-severity Improper Authentication vulnerability in the Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.8.1. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). The issue is fixed in version 1.8.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2020, reported by Michal Lipinski.

Vulnerability Overview

The Email Verification for WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass due to insufficient validation on the alg_wc_ev_activation_code value found in the verify() function which makes it possible for users to spoof email validation for any user, including administrators, that will auto-log them in as that user through wp_set_auth_cookie(). This affects versions up to, and including, 1.8.1. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to log in as site administrators.

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. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-287: Improper Authentication

Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce <= 1.8.1 carries this weakness at verify(), and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper authentication means the mechanism that proves who a caller is can be satisfied without the secret it was supposed to require.

An attacker authenticates as another user — administrators included — without ever knowing a password, so password policies and login rate limits never come into play. For Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce the fix is 1.8.2: builds <= 1.8.1 are affected, anything from 1.8.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.8.2, 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: Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce 1.8.2 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/85bd9922-3316-4fd0-b31e-c3ca5ab8a79d

Related records

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