CVE-2017-2245

WordPress Shortcodes Plugin — Shortcodes Ultimate < 4.10.0 - Directory Traversal

2017-06-23 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 4.10.0
Affected Plugin: Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements
Affected Version: < 4.10.0
CVSS: 5.0Medium
Weakness type: CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE: CVE-2017-2245

View all Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2017-2245 is a medium-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the Shortcodes Ultimate WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 4.10.0. It carries a CVSS score of 5.0 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The issue is fixed in version 4.10.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed June 2017, reported by Chris Liu.

Vulnerability Overview

Directory traversal vulnerability in Shortcodes Ultimate prior to version 4.10.0 allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via unspecified vectors.

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-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

Reaching this weakness in Shortcodes Ultimate < 4.10.0 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Path traversal happens when user-controlled text is used to build a filesystem path without being constrained to an intended directory, so sequences like ../ walk the resolved path somewhere else.

Depending on the operation, it means reading files outside the intended folder — wp-config.php being the usual target — or writing to and deleting paths the web server can touch. For Shortcodes Ultimate the fix is 4.10.0: builds < 4.10.0 are affected, anything from 4.10.0 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 4.10.0, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Shortcodes Ultimate: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Shortcodes Ultimate 4.10.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-2245 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/58a4cb88-033e-48f4-b6fa-2a9754ab6a7f https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-2245

Related records

Other vulnerabilities in Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements

CVSS Vector

5.0

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

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeChanged
ConfidentialityLow
IntegrityNone
AvailabilityNone

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