Network Publisher <= 5.0.1 - Cross-Site Scripting
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 5.1
- Affected Plugin
- Network Publisher
- Affected Version
<= 5.0.1- CVSS
- 6.1Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
- CVE
CVE pending
At a glance
This record tracks a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the Network Publisher WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 5.0.1. It carries a CVSS score of 6.1 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 5.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2012, reported by Heine Pedersen.
Vulnerability Overview
The Network Publisher plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting via the 'networkpub_key' parameter in versions up to, and including, 5.0.1 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts that execute in a victim's browser.
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.
CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Network Publisher <= 5.0.1 carries this weakness at networkpub_key, and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Cross-site scripting happens when input from a request is written into a page without being escaped for the context it lands in, so the browser parses attacker-supplied text as markup or script.
Injected script runs with the privileges of whoever views the affected page, which is how these flaws turn into administrator session theft, silent account creation or persistent backdoors in page content. For Network Publisher the fix is 5.1: builds <= 5.0.1 are affected, anything from 5.1 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 5.1, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Network Publisher: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Network Publisher 5.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
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