Images Optimize and Upload CF7 <= 2.1.4 - Missing Authorization to Arbitrary File Deletion
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.2.1
- Affected Plugin
- Images Optimize and Upload CF7
- Affected Version
<= 2.1.4- CVSS
- 9.1Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2022-4101
At a glance
CVE-2022-4101 is a critical-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Images Optimize and Upload CF7 WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.1.4. It carries a CVSS score of 9.1 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.2.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed December 2022, reported by cydave.
Vulnerability Overview
The Images Optimize and Upload CF7 plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass due to a missing capability check on the yr_api_delete AJAX action available to unprivileged users in versions up to, and including, 2.1.4. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to delete arbitrary files. This could be used to delete the wp-config.php file that would make complete site takeover relatively simple for an attacker.
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 integrity, availability.
CWE-862: Missing Authorization
Reaching this weakness in Images Optimize and Upload CF7 <= 2.1.4 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. 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 Images Optimize and Upload CF7 the fix is 2.2.1: builds <= 2.1.4 are affected, anything from 2.2.1 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.2.1, 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: Images Optimize and Upload CF7 2.2.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C