CVE-2014-5155

Theme My Login <= 6.3.9 - Local File Inclusion

2014-06-30 00:00
Mallory Adams

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 6.3.10
Affected Plugin
Theme My Login
Affected Version
< 6.3.10
CVSS
8.8High
Weakness type
CWE-98 · Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion')
CVE
CVE-2014-5155
View all Theme My Login vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2014-5155 is a high-severity Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in the Theme My Login WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 6.3.10. 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 6.3.10; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed June 2014, reported by Mallory Adams.

Vulnerability Overview

The Theme My Login plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in versions before 6.3.10 via the login_template attribute found in the theme-my-login shortcode. This allows authenticated attackers to include and execute arbitrary files on the server, allowing the execution of any PHP code in those files. This can be used to bypass access controls, obtain sensitive data, or achieve code execution in cases where images and other “safe” file types can be uploaded and included.

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-98: Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion')

Theme My Login < 6.3.10 carries this weakness at safe, and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. PHP file inclusion means a path used by include or require is built from request data, so the file that gets executed is under the caller's influence.

Including an attacker-influenced file executes its contents, which is why this class is routinely chained with an upload or log-poisoning step to reach code execution. For Theme My Login the fix is 6.3.10: builds < 6.3.10 are affected, anything from 6.3.10 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 6.3.10, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Theme My Login: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Theme My Login 6.3.10 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-5155https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/0fee990a-8ac0-40a2-9f25-96defd62263dhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-5155

Related records

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