GMAce <= 1.5.2 - Authenticated(Admin+) Directory Traversal
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Plugin
- GMAce
- Affected Version
<= 1.5.2- CVSS
- 4.9Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
- CVE
CVE-2023-23872
At a glance
CVE-2023-23872 is a medium-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the GMAce WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.5.2. It carries a CVSS score of 4.9 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Admin level or above. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed February 2023, reported by Kévin Mosbahi (Mika).
Vulnerability Overview
The GMAce plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to directory traversal in versions up to, and including, 1.5.2 via the 'gm-download-file' parameter. This allows authenticated attackers with administrator-level permissions to download arbitrary files from the webserver.
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.
CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
GMAce <= 1.5.2 carries this weakness at gm-download-file, and reaching it takes an account at Admin level or above. 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. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for GMAce yet, so installs running <= 1.5.2 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?
An attacker needs Admin access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads 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
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in GMAce
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C