NextGen Gallery <= 2.1.7 - Path Traversal

2015-08-28 00:00
Sathish Kumar

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 2.1.9
Affected Plugin
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery
Affected Version
<= 2.1.7
CVSS
6.5Medium
Weakness type
CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE
CVE pending
View all Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a medium-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.1.7. It carries a CVSS score of 6.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). The issue is fixed in version 2.1.9; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2015, reported by Sathish Kumar.

Vulnerability Overview

The NextGen Gallery plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Path Traversal in versions up to, and including, 2.1.7 via the browse_folder AJAX action and the 'dir' parameter. This allows authenticated attackers to read the contents of arbitrary files on the server, which can contain sensitive 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 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')

Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes <= 2.1.7 carries this weakness at dir, 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. For Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes the fix is 2.1.9: builds <= 2.1.7 are affected, anything from 2.1.9 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.1.9, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes 2.1.9 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/50589b41-cc2b-4ffa-ab63-509fb9d61be2

Related records

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