CVE-2024-43922

NitroPack <= 1.16.7 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary Shortcode Execution

2024-08-26 00:00
Rafie Muhammad

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.16.8
Affected Plugin
NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization
Affected Version
<= 1.16.7
CVSS
7.3High
Weakness type
CWE-94 · Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
CVE
CVE-2024-43922
View all NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2024-43922 is a high-severity Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability in the NitroPack WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.16.7. It carries a CVSS score of 7.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.16.8; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2024, reported by Rafie Muhammad.

Vulnerability Overview

The The NitroPack – Caching & Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals, Defer CSS & JS, Lazy load Images and CDN plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution in all versions up to, and including, 1.16.7. This is due to the software allowing users to execute an action that does not properly validate a value before running do_shortcode. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary shortcodes.

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.

CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')

Reaching this weakness in NitroPack <= 1.16.7 takes no account at all. Code injection means input from a request reaches a language construct that evaluates code, so the attacker's text is executed rather than treated as data.

The injected code runs with the web server's privileges, giving the attacker the same access to the database and filesystem as WordPress itself. For NitroPack the fix is 1.16.8: builds <= 1.16.7 are affected, anything from 1.16.8 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.16.8, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

Requests carrying this pattern arrive without a session, so nothing upstream of the firewall gets a chance to reject them: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. None of that substitutes for the fix: NitroPack 1.16.8 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Login Security

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-43922https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/2a0f539c-5d1d-4e1b-9a4b-719c096ba23chttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-43922

Related records

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