Import XML and RSS Feeds <= 2.1.4 - Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.1.5
- Affected Plugin
- Import XML and RSS Feeds
- Affected Version
<= 2.1.4- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-94 · Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2023-4521
At a glance
CVE-2023-4521 is a critical-severity Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability in the Import XML and RSS Feeds WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.1.4. 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 2.1.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2023, reported by Enrico Marcolini.
Vulnerability Overview
The Import XML and RSS Feeds for WordPress is vulnerable to remote code execution in versions up to, and including, 2.1.4. This is due to the plugin vendor leaving a malicious file behind when patching CVE-2023-4300. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to access the 169227090864de013cac47b.php file and achieve remote code execution.
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-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
Reaching this weakness in Import XML and RSS Feeds <= 2.1.4 takes no account at all. 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 Import XML and RSS Feeds the fix is 2.1.5: builds <= 2.1.4 are affected, anything from 2.1.5 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.1.5, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
Requests carrying this pattern arrive without a session, so nothing upstream of the firewall gets a chance to reject them: 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: Import XML and RSS Feeds 2.1.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Scanner
- Login Security
External References
Related records
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