Protect uploads <= 0.3 - Authorization Bypass
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 0.4
- Affected Plugin
- Protect Uploads
- Affected Version
<= 0.3- CVSS
- 4.8Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-285 · Improper Authorization
- CVE
CVE pending
At a glance
This record tracks a medium-severity Improper Authorization vulnerability in the Protect Uploads WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 0.3. It carries a CVSS score of 4.8 (reachable over the network). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 0.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2022.
Vulnerability Overview
The Protect uploads plugin for WordPress failed to use a capability check and leaked the nonce necessary to save changes in the protect-uploads-admin-settings-page.php file. This meant that attackers able to successfully load this file in the context of WordPress, such as through a separate local file inclusion vulnerability, could save changes to the plugin settings. Note that while the file did allow direct access, this was not sufficient to obtain sensitive information or make changes on its own.
Technical Analysis
The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, and no privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user.
CWE-285: Improper Authorization
Reaching this weakness in Protect Uploads <= 0.3 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper authorization means a permission check exists but does not cover the case being exercised, so a caller who is allowed to do one thing is allowed to do a neighbouring thing as well.
A lower-privileged account performs an action reserved for a higher one, which on a multi-author or membership site means an ordinary user reaching administrative behaviour. For Protect Uploads the fix is 0.4: builds <= 0.3 are affected, anything from 0.4 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 0.4, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
Because it turns on account access, WordSec's login security is the relevant layer: role-based two-factor, captcha and brute-force limits raise the cost of getting the account this needs. None of that substitutes for the fix: Protect Uploads 0.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
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