CVE-2023-1208

HTTP Headers <= 1.18.10 - Authenticated(Administrator+) Remote Code Execution

2023-06-19 00:00
qerogram

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.18.11
Affected Plugin
HTTP Headers
Affected Version
<= 1.18.10
CVSS
6.6Medium
Weakness type
CWE-94 · Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
CVE
CVE-2023-1208
View all HTTP Headers vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-1208 is a medium-severity Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability in the HTTP Headers WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.18.10. It carries a CVSS score of 6.6 (reachable over the network; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Administrator level or above. The issue is fixed in version 1.18.11; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed June 2023, reported by qerogram.

Vulnerability Overview

The HTTP Headers plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in versions up to, and including, 1.18.10 via the 'http_headers_pre_update_option' function. This allows authenticated attackers with administrator-level permissions to write files and execute code on the server. The issue was partially fixed in 1.18.10 but not fully fixed until 1.18.11.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')

HTTP Headers <= 1.18.10 carries this weakness at http_headers_pre_update_option, and reaching it takes an account at Administrator level or above. Code injection means input from a request reaches a language construct that evaluates code, so the attacker's text is executed rather than treated as data.

The injected code runs with the web server's privileges, giving the attacker the same access to the database and filesystem as WordPress itself. For HTTP Headers the fix is 1.18.11: builds <= 1.18.10 are affected, anything from 1.18.11 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.18.11, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Administrator 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. 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: HTTP Headers 1.18.11 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-1208https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/75b84eae-6ff2-49af-a420-2aeef50224e3https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-1208

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C