CVE-2023-6160

LifterLMS <= 7.4.2 - Authenticated(Administrator+) Directory Traversal to Arbitrary CSV File Deletion

2023-11-05 00:00
Hüseyin TINTAŞ

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 7.5.0
Affected Plugin
LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes
Affected Version
<= 7.4.2
CVSS
3.3Low
Weakness type
CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE
CVE-2023-6160
View all LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-6160 is a low-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the LifterLMS WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 7.4.2. It carries a CVSS score of 3.3 (reachable over the network). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Administrator level or above. The issue is fixed in version 7.5.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2023, reported by Hüseyin TINTAŞ.

Vulnerability Overview

The LifterLMS – WordPress LMS Plugin for eLearning plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Directory Traversal in versions up to, and including, 7.4.2 via the maybe_serve_export function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with administrator or LMS manager access and above, to read the contents of arbitrary CSV files on the server, which can contain sensitive information as well as removing those files from the server.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, and no interaction from a victim user.

CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

Reaching this weakness in LifterLMS <= 7.4.2 takes an account at Administrator level or above. Path traversal happens when user-controlled text is used to build a filesystem path without being constrained to an intended directory, so sequences like ../ walk the resolved path somewhere else.

Depending on the operation, it means reading files outside the intended folder — wp-config.php being the usual target — or writing to and deleting paths the web server can touch. For LifterLMS the fix is 7.5.0: builds <= 7.4.2 are affected, anything from 7.5.0 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 7.5.0, 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. None of that substitutes for the fix: LifterLMS 7.5.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-6160https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/6d0fcd82-6d4a-454f-8056-a896e8d41d00https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-6160

Related records

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