Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.9.4
- Affected Plugin
- Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth
- Affected Version
1.8 – 2.9.2 · 12 branches- CVSS
- 5.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-285 · Improper Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2014-0173
At a glance
CVE-2014-0173 is a medium-severity Improper Authorization vulnerability in the Jetpack WordPress plugin, affecting versions 1.8 – 2.9.2 · 12 branches. It carries a CVSS score of 5.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.9.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2014.
Vulnerability Overview
The Jetpack plugin before 1.9 before 1.9.4, 2.0.x before 2.0.9, 2.1.x before 2.1.4, 2.2.x before 2.2.7, 2.3.x before 2.3.7, 2.4.x before 2.4.4, 2.5.x before 2.5.2, 2.6.x before 2.6.3, 2.7.x before 2.7.2, 2.8.x before 2.8.2, and 2.9.x before 2.9.3 for WordPress does not properly restrict access to the XML-RPC service, which allows remote attackers to bypass intended restrictions and publish posts via unspecified vectors. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information.
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.
CWE-285: Improper Authorization
Reaching this weakness in Jetpack 1.8 – 2.9.2 · 12 branches takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper authorization means a permission check exists but does not cover the case being exercised, so a caller who is allowed to do one thing is allowed to do a neighbouring thing as well.
A lower-privileged account performs an action reserved for a higher one, which on a multi-author or membership site means an ordinary user reaching administrative behaviour. For Jetpack the fix is 1.9.4: builds 1.8 – 2.9.2 · 12 branches are affected, anything from 1.9.4 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to one of the following versions, or a newer patched version: 1.9.4, 2.0.9, 2.1.4, 2.2.7, 2.3.7, 2.4.4, 2.5.2, 2.6.3, 2.7.2, 2.8.2, 2.9.3
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: Jetpack 1.9.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth
- 9.8Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth < 4.2 Timing Attack
- 9.6Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth < 4.2 CSV Injection
- 7.2Jetpack 12.0 - 16.1.2 PHP Object Injection
- 7.2Jetpack <= 3.7.1 Stored Cross-Site Scripting
- 7.2Jetpack <= 3.5.2 Cross-Site Scripting
- 6.6Jetpack PHP Object Injection
- 6.5CVE-2024-10075: Jetpack <= 13.7 Arbitrary Block & Shortcode Execution
CVE-2024-10075 - 6.5CVE-2023-2996: Jetpack <= 12.1 Arbitrary File Manipulation
CVE-2023-2996
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C