Limit Login Attempts Reloaded <= 2.25.25 - Missing Authorization
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.25.26
- Affected Plugin
- Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention
- Affected Version
<= 2.25.25- CVSS
- 4.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2023-5525
At a glance
CVE-2023-5525 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Limit Login Attempts Security WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.25.25. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The root cause is a missing authorization check on a reachable function. The issue is fixed in version 2.25.26; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2023, reported by Alex Chapman (noxrnet).
Vulnerability Overview
The Limit Login Attempts Reloaded plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing capability check on the toggle_auto_update() function hooked via AJAX in all versions up to, and including, 2.25.25. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with access to a valid nonce, to toggle auto-updates for the plugin on and off.
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 interaction from a victim user.
CWE-862: Missing Authorization
Limit Login Attempts Security <= 2.25.25 carries this weakness at toggle_auto_update(), and reaching it 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 Limit Login Attempts Security the fix is 2.25.26: builds <= 2.25.25 are affected, anything from 2.25.26 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.25.26, 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: Limit Login Attempts Security 2.25.26 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention
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