CVE-2023-0402

Social Warfare <= 4.3.0 - Missing Authorization

2023-01-05 00:00
Marco Wotschka

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 4.3.1
Affected Version
<= 4.3.0
CVSS
5.4Medium
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE-2023-0402
View all Social Sharing Plugin – Social Warfare vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-0402 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Social Sharing Plugin WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.3.0. It carries a CVSS score of 5.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The root cause is a missing authorization check on a reachable function. The issue is fixed in version 4.3.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2023, reported by Marco Wotschka.

Vulnerability Overview

The Social Warfare plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass due to a missing capability check on several AJAX actions in versions up to, and including, 4.3.0. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level permissions and above, to delete post meta information and reset network access tokens.

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-862: Missing Authorization

Reaching this weakness in Social Sharing Plugin <= 4.3.0 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.

Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For Social Sharing Plugin the fix is 4.3.1: builds <= 4.3.0 are affected, anything from 4.3.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 4.3.1, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

Because it turns on account access, WordSec's login security is the relevant layer: role-based two-factor, captcha and brute-force limits raise the cost of getting the account this needs. None of that substitutes for the fix: Social Sharing Plugin 4.3.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

Related records

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