CVE-2016-10996

Popup Builder by OptinMonster <= 1.1.4.5 - Remote Code Execution

2016-01-14 11:25
James Golovich

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.1.4.6
Affected Plugin
Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation
Affected Version
< 1.1.4.6
CVSS
5.3Medium
Weakness type
CWE-94 · Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
CVE
CVE-2016-10996
View all Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2016-10996 is a medium-severity Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability in the Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 1.1.4.6. It carries a CVSS score of 5.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.1.4.6; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2016, reported by James Golovich.

Vulnerability Overview

The OptinMonster plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in versions up to, and including, 1.1.4.5 via the shortcode() function. This allows unauthenticated attackers to execute code on the server.

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')

Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress < 1.1.4.6 carries this weakness at shortcode(), and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. 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 Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress the fix is 1.1.4.6: builds < 1.1.4.6 are affected, anything from 1.1.4.6 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.1.4.6, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress: 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: Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress 1.1.4.6 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-10996https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/d396e47a-cabe-4498-9269-d67bdeb0c570https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-10996

Related records

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