CVE-2021-24227

Patreon WordPress < 1.7.0 - Local File Disclosure

2021-03-26 00:00
George Stephanis

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.7.0
Affected Plugin
Patreon WordPress
Affected Version
< 1.7.0
CVSS
7.5High
Weakness type
CWE-200 · Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
CVE
CVE-2021-24227
View all Patreon WordPress vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2021-24227 is a high-severity Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerability in the Patreon WordPress WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 1.7.0. It carries a CVSS score of 7.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.7.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2021, reported by George Stephanis.

Vulnerability Overview

The Jetpack Scan team identified a Local File Disclosure vulnerability in the Patreon WordPress plugin before 1.7.0 that could be abused by anyone visiting the site. Using this attack vector, an attacker could leak important internal files like wp-config.php, which contains database credentials and cryptographic keys used in the generation of nonces and cookies.

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. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality.

CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

Reaching this weakness in Patreon WordPress < 1.7.0 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Sensitive information exposure means data the application intended to keep internal is returned to a caller who should not be able to see it.

The disclosed data — credentials, tokens, customer records or internal paths — is usually worth more as material for a follow-up attack than as an end in itself. For Patreon WordPress the fix is 1.7.0: builds < 1.7.0 are affected, anything from 1.7.0 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.7.0, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The fix is the thing that ends this: Patreon WordPress 1.7.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Alerts

External References

Related records

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