CVE-2023-47760

Essential Blocks for Gutenberg <= 4.2.0 - Missing Authorization via AJAX actions

2023-11-13 00:00
Abdi Pranata

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 4.2.1
Affected Plugin
Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns
Affected Version
<= 4.2.0
CVSS
4.3Medium
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE-2023-47760
View all Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-47760 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Gutenberg Essential Blocks WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.2.0. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The root cause is a missing authorization check on a reachable function. The issue is fixed in version 4.2.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2023, reported by Abdi Pranata.

Vulnerability Overview

The Essential Blocks for Gutenberg plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access to AJAX actions due to a missing capability check on several functions in versions up to, and including, 4.2.0. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to invoke those functions. A nonce check was performed in all of them. However, the nonce was leaked on the profile page. CVE-2023-51360 appears to be a duplicate of this issue.

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 Gutenberg Essential Blocks <= 4.2.0 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 Gutenberg Essential Blocks the fix is 4.2.1: builds <= 4.2.0 are affected, anything from 4.2.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 4.2.1, 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: Gutenberg Essential Blocks 4.2.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-47760https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/c2136e1c-5f69-434d-bdc7-72a144da744bhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-47760

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C