CVE-2021-24711

Software License Manager <= 4.5.0 - Cross-Site Request Forgery leading to Arbitrary Domain Deletion

2021-09-13 00:00
Harald Eilertsen

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 4.5.1
Affected Version
< 4.5.1
CVSS
4.3Medium
Weakness type
CWE-352 · Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
CVE
CVE-2021-24711
View all Software License Manager vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2021-24711 is a medium-severity Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Software License Manager WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 4.5.1. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 4.5.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2021, reported by Harald Eilertsen.

Vulnerability Overview

The Software License Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in versions up to, and including, 4.5.0. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the del_reistered_domains AJAX action. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to delete an entry in the plugin's registered domain database table via forged request granted they can trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.

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.

CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

Reaching this weakness in Software License Manager < 4.5.1 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Cross-site request forgery abuses the fact that browsers attach a victim's cookies to any request, so a state-changing action that only checks who you are, not whether you meant to act, can be triggered from another site.

An attacker who gets a logged-in user to load a crafted page can perform that action as them, with the impact scaling to whatever the victim's role is allowed to do. For Software License Manager the fix is 4.5.1: builds < 4.5.1 are affected, anything from 4.5.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 4.5.1, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Software License Manager: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Software License Manager 4.5.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C