CVE-2023-3279

WordPress Gallery Plugin – NextGEN Gallery <= 3.38 - Authenticated (Admin+) Local File Inclusion

2023-09-25 00:00
Alex Sanford

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.39
Affected Plugin
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery
Affected Version
<= 3.38
CVSS
4.9Medium
Weakness type
CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE
CVE-2023-3279
View all Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-3279 is 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 <= 3.38. It carries a CVSS score of 4.9 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Admin level or above. The issue is fixed in version 3.39; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2023, reported by Alex Sanford.

Vulnerability Overview

The WordPress Gallery Plugin – NextGEN Gallery plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 3.38 via the 'Select View' field in the plugin's developer tools. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with administrator-level access and above, to include and execute arbitrary files on the server, allowing the execution of any PHP code in those files. This can be used to bypass access controls, obtain sensitive data, or achieve code execution in cases where images and other “safe” file types can be uploaded and included.

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 <= 3.38 carries this weakness at safe, and reaching it takes an account at Admin 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 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes the fix is 3.39: builds <= 3.38 are affected, anything from 3.39 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.39, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Admin 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: Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes 3.39 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-3279https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/77db423c-af60-4539-8e3d-fde997741617https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-3279

Related records

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