Time Clock <= 1.2.2 & Time Clock Pro <= 1.1.4 - Unauthenticated (Limited) Remote Code Execution
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.2.3
- Affected Version
<= 1.2.2- CVSS
- 8.3High
- Weakness type
- CWE-94 · Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2024-9593
At a glance
CVE-2024-9593 is a high-severity Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability in the Time Clock WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.2.2. It carries a CVSS score of 8.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.2.3; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2024, reported by István Márton.
Vulnerability Overview
The Time Clock plugin and Time Clock Pro plugin for WordPress are vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in versions up to, and including, 1.2.2 (for Time Clock) and 1.1.4 (for Time Clock Pro) via the 'etimeclockwp_load_function_callback' function. This allows unauthenticated attackers to execute code on the server. The invoked function's parameters cannot be specified.
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-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
Time Clock <= 1.2.2 carries this weakness at etimeclockwp_load_function_callback, and reaching it takes no account at all. Code injection means input from a request reaches a language construct that evaluates code, so the attacker's text is executed rather than treated as data.
The injected code runs with the web server's privileges, giving the attacker the same access to the database and filesystem as WordPress itself. For Time Clock the fix is 1.2.3: builds <= 1.2.2 are affected, anything from 1.2.3 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.2.3, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
Requests carrying this pattern arrive without a session, so nothing upstream of the firewall gets a chance to reject them: 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: Time Clock 1.2.3 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Scanner
- Login Security
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Time Clock – A WordPress Employee & Volunteer Time Clock Plugin
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