WP Social Comments <= 1.7.2 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Settings Change
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.7.3
- Affected Plugin
- WP Social Comments
- Affected Version
<= 1.7.2- CVSS
- 4.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE pending
At a glance
This record tracks a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the WP Social Comments WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.7.2. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. The issue is fixed in version 1.7.3; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed December 2022.
Vulnerability Overview
The WP Social Comments plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass due to a missing capability check in the 'wpfc_allow_comments' function in versions up to, and including, 1.7.2. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level permissions or above, to enable or disable Facebook comments on any post.
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
WP Social Comments <= 1.7.2 carries this weakness at wpfc_allow_comments, and reaching it takes an account at Subscriber level or above. 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 WP Social Comments the fix is 1.7.3: builds <= 1.7.2 are affected, anything from 1.7.3 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.7.3, 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: WP Social Comments 1.7.3 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
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