CVE-2023-23975

Quick Event Manager <= 9.7.4 - Missing Authorization Checks

2023-01-20 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 9.7.5
Affected Plugin: Quick Event Manager
Affected Version: <= 9.7.4
CVSS: 6.3Medium
Weakness type: CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE: CVE-2023-23975

View all Quick Event Manager vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-23975 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Quick Event Manager WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 9.7.4. It carries a CVSS score of 6.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The root cause is a missing authorization check on a reachable function. The issue is fixed in version 9.7.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2023, reported by yuyudhn.

Vulnerability Overview

The Quick Event Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass due to missing authorization checks on various calls in the qem_messages() function in versions up to, and including, 9.7.4. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with minimal permissions such as a subscriber, to manage and alter registration settings that should be intended for site administrators.

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.

CWE-862: Missing Authorization

Quick Event Manager <= 9.7.4 carries this weakness at qem_messages(), and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. 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 Quick Event Manager the fix is 9.7.5: builds <= 9.7.4 are affected, anything from 9.7.5 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 9.7.5, 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: Quick Event Manager 9.7.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-23975 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/53199f3c-80d1-4c4e-93ef-8a234ba8ba85 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-23975

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in Quick Event Manager

CVSS Vector

6.3

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityLow
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityLow

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