GeoDirectory <= 2.8.187 - Unauthenticated Local File Inclusion via 'design_type' Parameter

The GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.187 via the 'design_type' parameter parameter. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to include and execute arbitrary .php files on the server, allowing the execution of any PHP code in those files. This can be used to bypass access controls, obtain sensitive data, or achieve code execution in cases where .php file types can be uploaded and included. The required nonce is trivially obtainable by any anonymous visitor, as the geodir_basic_nonce value is localized to every public frontend page via the geodir_params script object, meaning no authentication, user interaction, or specific site content is required to exploit this vulnerability.

Requests carrying this pattern arrive without a session, so nothing upstream of the firewall gets a chance to reject them: 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. None of that substitutes for the fix: GeoDirectory 2.8.188 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

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