CVE-2023-41956

Simple Membership <= 4.3.4 - Account Takeover via Password Reset

2023-09-25 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 4.3.5
Affected Plugin: Simple Membership
Affected Version: <= 4.3.4
CVSS: 8.8High
Weakness type: CWE-20 · Improper Input Validation
CVE: CVE-2023-41956

View all Simple Membership vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-41956 is a high-severity Improper Input Validation vulnerability in the Simple Membership WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.3.4. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). The issue is fixed in version 4.3.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2023, reported by Rafie Muhammad.

Vulnerability Overview

The Simple Membership plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to account takeover due to missing input validation on the process_password_reset_using_link function in versions up to, and including, 4.3.4. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers to gain access to arbitrary accounts on the site via the password reset functionality.

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, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-20: Improper Input Validation

Reaching this weakness in Simple Membership <= 4.3.4 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper input validation means the application accepts input without confirming it has the form, type or range the code downstream assumes.

The concrete impact depends on where the unvalidated value lands, which is why records in this class range from cosmetic bugs to full compromise. For Simple Membership the fix is 4.3.5: builds <= 4.3.4 are affected, anything from 4.3.5 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 4.3.5, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Simple Membership: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Simple Membership 4.3.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41956 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e53bb240-8784-4d34-8d3f-4a7af917f3f4 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-41956

Related records

Same weakness class

7.3CVE-2023-41957: Simple Membership <= 4.3.4 Privilege escalationCVE-2023-41957

Other vulnerabilities in Simple Membership

CVSS Vector

8.8

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

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

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