Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.6.4
- Affected Plugin
- Houzez Login Register
- Affected Version
<= 2.6.3- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
- CVE
CVE-2023-26009
At a glance
CVE-2023-26009 is a critical-severity Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in the Houzez Login Register WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.6.3. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.6.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed February 2023, reported by Dave Jong.
Vulnerability Overview
The Houzez Login Register plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in versions up to, and including, 2.6.3. This is due to improper assignment of privileges on user registration that allows users to supply their own role via the houzez_register AJAX action. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to register as administrators on vulnerable sites.
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, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management
Reaching this weakness in Houzez Login Register <= 2.6.3 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper privilege management means the code lets an account end up with capabilities its role should not have.
It converts a low-privileged account into an administrative one, which makes every other restriction on the site irrelevant. For Houzez Login Register the fix is 2.6.4: builds <= 2.6.3 are affected, anything from 2.6.4 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.6.4, 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: Houzez Login Register 2.6.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Houzez Login Register
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