Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.8
- Affected Plugin
- Shortcode Factory
- Affected Version
<= 2.7- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-98 · Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion')
- CVE
CVE-2019-15322
At a glance
CVE-2019-15322 is a critical-severity Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in the Shortcode Factory WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.7. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.8; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2019.
Vulnerability Overview
The Shortcode Factory plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in versions up to, and including, 2.7 via the 'ui' parameter found in the '/core/functions.php' file. This allows unauthenticated attackers to include and execute arbitrary files on the server, allowing the execution of any PHP code in those files. This can be used to bypass access controls, obtain sensitive data, or achieve code execution in cases where images and other “safe” file types can be uploaded and included.
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, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-98: Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion')
Shortcode Factory <= 2.7 carries this weakness at safe, and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. PHP file inclusion means a path used by include or require is built from request data, so the file that gets executed is under the caller's influence.
Including an attacker-influenced file executes its contents, which is why this class is routinely chained with an upload or log-poisoning step to reach code execution. For Shortcode Factory the fix is 2.8: builds <= 2.7 are affected, anything from 2.8 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.8, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Shortcode Factory: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Shortcode Factory 2.8 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Scanner
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Shortcode Factory
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