Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Plugin
- Narnoo Distributor
- Affected Version
<= 2.5.1- CVSS
- 7.5High
- Weakness type
- CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
- CVE
CVE-2022-0679
At a glance
CVE-2022-0679 is a high-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the Narnoo Distributor WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.5.1. It carries a CVSS score of 7.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed March 2022, reported by cydave.
Vulnerability Overview
The Narnoo Distributor WordPress plugin through 2.5.1 fails to validate and sanitize the lib_path parameter before it is passed into a call to require() via the narnoo_distributor_lib_request AJAX action (available to both unauthenticated and authenticated users) which results in the disclosure of arbitrary files as the content of the file is then displayed in the response as JSON data. This could also lead to RCE with various tricks but depends on the underlying system and it's configuration.
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.
CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Narnoo Distributor <= 2.5.1 carries this weakness at require(), and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. 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. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for Narnoo Distributor yet, so installs running <= 2.5.1 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.
Remediation
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
How does WordSec protect against this?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Narnoo Distributor: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C