CVE-2023-2288

Otter - Gutenberg Blocks <= 2.2.5 - Authenticated (Author+) PHAR Deserialization

2023-05-02 00:00
Alex Sanford

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 2.2.6
Affected Version
<= 2.2.5
CVSS
8.8High
Weakness type
CWE-502 · Deserialization of Untrusted Data
CVE
CVE-2023-2288
View all Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-2288 is a high-severity Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in the Otter Blocks WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.2.5. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Author level or above. The issue is fixed in version 2.2.6; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2023, reported by Alex Sanford.

Vulnerability Overview

The Otter - Gutenberg Blocks plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to deserialization of untrusted input via the 'fallback' parameter in versions up to, and including 1.2.7. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with author privileges to call files using a PHAR wrapper that will deserialize and call arbitrary PHP Objects that can be used to perform a variety of malicious actions granted a POP chain is also present. It also requires that the attacker is successful in uploading a file with the serialized payload.

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, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data

Otter Blocks <= 2.2.5 carries this weakness at fallback, and reaching it takes an account at Author level or above. Deserialization of untrusted data means the application reconstructs objects from input a caller controls, letting the attacker choose which classes get instantiated and what their properties hold.

A workable chain turns deserialization into file writes, deletions or code execution, depending on what the loaded classes do in their magic methods. For Otter Blocks the fix is 2.2.6: builds <= 2.2.5 are affected, anything from 2.2.6 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.2.6, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Author 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. 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: Otter Blocks 2.2.6 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Alerts

External References

Related records

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