Register Plus Redux <= 4.3 - Cross-Site Scripting

2012-03-27 00:00
Eugene Dokukin

Strategic Overview

Status
Unpatched
Affected Plugin
Register Plus Redux
Affected Version
<= 4.3
CVSS
7.1High
Weakness type
CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE
CVE pending
View all Register Plus Redux vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the Register Plus Redux WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.3. It carries a CVSS score of 7.1 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed March 2012, reported by Eugene Dokukin.

Vulnerability Overview

The Register Plus Redux plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting in up to, and including 4.3 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on the user_email parameter. This makes it possible for attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts that execute in a victim's browser.

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.

CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

Reaching this weakness in Register Plus Redux <= 4.3 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Cross-site scripting happens when input from a request is written into a page without being escaped for the context it lands in, so the browser parses attacker-supplied text as markup or script.

Injected script runs with the privileges of whoever views the affected page, which is how these flaws turn into administrator session theft, silent account creation or persistent backdoors in page content. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for Register Plus Redux yet, so installs running <= 4.3 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.

Remediation

No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Register Plus Redux: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

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