Relevanssi – A Better Search < 4.14.6 & Relevanssi – A Better Search Pro < 2.16.5 - Missing Authorization

2022-02-15 00:00
Jan w Oleju

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 2.16.5
Affected Plugin
Relevanssi Premium
Affected Version
< 2.16.5
CVSS
6.3Medium
Weakness type
CWE-285 · Improper Authorization
CVE
CVE pending
View all Relevanssi Premium vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a medium-severity Improper Authorization vulnerability in the Relevanssi Premium WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 2.16.5. 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 2.16.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed February 2022, reported by Jan w Oleju.

Vulnerability Overview

The Relevanssi – A Better Search plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass due to missing capability checks on several functions in versions before 4.14.6 in the free version and 2.16.5 in the PRO version. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level roles and above to perform unauthorized AJAX actions.

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-285: Improper Authorization

Reaching this weakness in Relevanssi Premium < 2.16.5 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 Relevanssi Premium the fix is 2.16.5: builds < 2.16.5 are affected, anything from 2.16.5 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.16.5, 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: Relevanssi Premium 2.16.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/3cd02dbc-6725-4626-844b-df12bad9da37

Related records

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