Spam Free WordPress <= 1.9.3 - IP Protection Bypass
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.0
- Affected Plugin
- Spam Free WordPress
- Affected Version
<= 1.9.3- CVSS
- 5.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-284 · Improper Access Control
- CVE
CVE pending
At a glance
This record tracks a medium-severity Improper Access Control vulnerability in the Spam Free WordPress WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.9.3. It carries a CVSS score of 5.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2013, reported by Akastep.
Vulnerability Overview
The Spam Free WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to IP Protection Bypass in versions up to, and including, 1.9.3 via the sfw_comment_post_authentication() function due to the fact that the plugin relies on a value that can be user-supplied ('comment_ip' parameter) for the IP address that is checked against the blocklist. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to bypass comment restrictions
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.
CWE-284: Improper Access Control
Spam Free WordPress <= 1.9.3 carries this weakness at comment_ip, and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper access control means the code decides what a caller may do using something other than their actual permissions, so the decision can be wrong without any check appearing to be missing.
Whoever can shape the request decides the answer, so the protected action runs for callers the code never meant to allow. For Spam Free WordPress the fix is 2.0: builds <= 1.9.3 are affected, anything from 2.0 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.0, 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: Spam Free WordPress 2.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Spam Free WordPress
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