CVE-2018-5287

GD Rating System <= 2.3 - Directory Traversal

2018-01-08 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 2.3.1
Affected Plugin: GD Rating System
Affected Version: < 2.3.1
CVSS: 7.5High
Weakness type: CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE: CVE-2018-5287

View all GD Rating System vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2018-5287 is a high-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the GD Rating System WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 2.3.1. It carries a CVSS score of 7.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.3.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2018, reported by d4wner.

Vulnerability Overview

The GD Rating System plugin 2.3 for WordPress has Directory Traversal in the wp-admin/admin.php panel parameter for the gd-rating-system-about page.

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.

CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

Reaching this weakness in GD Rating System < 2.3.1 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Path traversal happens when user-controlled text is used to build a filesystem path without being constrained to an intended directory, so sequences like ../ walk the resolved path somewhere else.

Depending on the operation, it means reading files outside the intended folder — wp-config.php being the usual target — or writing to and deleting paths the web server can touch. For GD Rating System the fix is 2.3.1: builds < 2.3.1 are affected, anything from 2.3.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.3.1, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to GD Rating System: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: GD Rating System 2.3.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-5287 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/44210443-26f8-4626-aee2-4a19d87fdd43 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-5287

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in GD Rating System

CVSS Vector

7.5

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityNone
AvailabilityNone

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