CVE-2021-4359

Frontend File Manager Plugin <= 18.2 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary Post Deletion

2021-07-12 00:00
Jerome Bruandet

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 18.3
Affected Plugin
Frontend File Manager Plugin
Affected Version
< 18.3
CVSS
6.5Medium
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE-2021-4359
View all Frontend File Manager Plugin vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2021-4359 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Frontend File Manager Plugin WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 18.3. It carries a CVSS score of 6.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 18.3; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2021, reported by Jerome Bruandet.

Vulnerability Overview

The Frontend File Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Unauthenticated Arbitrary Post Deletion in versions up to, and including, 18.2. This is due to lacking authentication protections and lacking a security nonce on the wpfm_delete_file AJAX action. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to delete any posts and pages on the site.

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-862: Missing Authorization

Reaching this weakness in Frontend File Manager Plugin < 18.3 takes no account at all. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.

Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For Frontend File Manager Plugin the fix is 18.3: builds < 18.3 are affected, anything from 18.3 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 18.3, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

This one needs no account at all, which puts it outside what login hardening can reach; WordSec's login security narrows the account-level paths around it, and the firewall is what inspects the request itself. None of that substitutes for the fix: Frontend File Manager Plugin 18.3 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-4359https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/84c61d00-20c1-4176-a74d-ea6ff6220f26https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-4359

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C