Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.5.0
- Affected Plugin
- String locator
- Affected Version
< 2.5.0- CVSS
- 4.9Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
- CVE
CVE-2022-0493
At a glance
CVE-2022-0493 is a medium-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the String locator WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 2.5.0. It carries a CVSS score of 4.9 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account. The issue is fixed in version 2.5.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2022, reported by qerogram.
Vulnerability Overview
The String locator WordPress plugin before 2.5.0 does not properly validate the path of the files to be searched, allowing high privilege users such as admin to query arbitrary files on the web server via a path traversal vector. Furthermore, due to a flaw in the search, allowing a pattern to be provided, which will be used to output the relevant matches from the matching file, all content of the file can be disclosed.
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 String locator < 2.5.0 takes any authenticated account. 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 String locator the fix is 2.5.0: builds < 2.5.0 are affected, anything from 2.5.0 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.5.0, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to String locator: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: String locator 2.5.0 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