Simple Ads Manager < 2.9.4.116 - Denial of Service

2015-07-02 00:00
Michael Kapfer

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 2.9.4.116
Affected Plugin
Simple Ads Manager
Affected Version
< 2.9.4.116
CVSS
7.5High
Weakness type
CWE-400 · Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
CVE
CVE pending
View all Simple Ads Manager vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a high-severity Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in the Simple Ads Manager WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 2.9.4.116. It carries a CVSS score of 7.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.9.4.116; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2015, reported by Michael Kapfer.

Vulnerability Overview

The Simple Ads Manager Plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Denial of Service in versions before 2.9.4.116. This is due to an input validation flaw that allows an attacker to perform simple file system operations which can result in a denial of service. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to affected website to consume memory and CPU resources, thus denying service to legitimate users.

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 availability.

CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

Reaching this weakness in Simple Ads Manager < 2.9.4.116 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Uncontrolled resource consumption means a request can make the server do an amount of work it never bounds, because the size or repetition of the job is taken from the request rather than capped by the code.

A single caller can hold PHP workers, database connections or disk open long enough to slow the site for everyone, without needing any account or any other flaw. For Simple Ads Manager the fix is 2.9.4.116: builds < 2.9.4.116 are affected, anything from 2.9.4.116 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.9.4.116, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Simple Ads Manager: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Simple Ads Manager 2.9.4.116 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/964601d5-8460-41c5-9791-ff9e3af964e3

Related records

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