CVE-2021-24692

Simple Download Monitor <= 3.9.4 - Contributor+ Arbitrary File Download

2021-09-02 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 3.9.5
Affected Plugin: Simple Download Monitor
Affected Version: < 3.9.5
CVSS: 6.5Medium
Weakness type: CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE: CVE-2021-24692

View all Simple Download Monitor vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2021-24692 is a medium-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the Simple Download Monitor WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 3.9.5. It carries a CVSS score of 6.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). The issue is fixed in version 3.9.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2021, reported by apple502j.

Vulnerability Overview

The Simple Download Monitor WordPress plugin before 3.9.5 allows users with a role as low as Contributor to download any file on the web server (such as wp-config.php) via a path traversal vector.

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. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality.

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

Reaching this weakness in Simple Download Monitor < 3.9.5 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 Simple Download Monitor the fix is 3.9.5: builds < 3.9.5 are affected, anything from 3.9.5 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.9.5, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Simple Download Monitor: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Simple Download Monitor 3.9.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-24692 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/79545b24-b325-486b-b34f-87bba14b8cd4 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-24692

Related records

Other vulnerabilities in Simple Download Monitor

CVSS Vector

6.5

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

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityNone
AvailabilityNone

This record contains material that is subject to copyright

CVE Usage: MITRE hereby grants you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE®). Any copy you make for such purposes is authorized provided that you reproduce MITRE's copyright designation and this license in any such copy.

https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse

Defiant hereby grants you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute this software vulnerability information. Any copy of the software vulnerability information you make for such purposes is authorized provided that you include a hyperlink to this vulnerability record and reproduce Defiant's copyright designation and this license in any such copy.

https://www.wordfence.com/wordfence-intelligence-terms-and-conditions/