Tracking Code Manager < 1.11.5 - Denial of Service

2017-05-10 00:00
DefenceCode

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.11.5
Affected Plugin
Tracking Code Manager
Affected Version
<= 1.11.4
CVSS
7.5High
Weakness type
CWE-400 · Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
CVE
CVE pending
View all Tracking Code Manager vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a high-severity Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in the Tracking Code Manager WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.11.4. It carries a CVSS score of 7.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.11.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2017, reported by DefenceCode.

Vulnerability Overview

The Tracking Code Manager for WordPress is vulnerable to Denial of Service attacks in versions up to, and including, 1.11.4. This is due to the ability of users to make a recursive call to the 'tcmp_do_action' function. Due to an additional Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerability, this makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to render a site unresponsive until a restart.

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. A successful exploit has high impact on availability.

CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

Tracking Code Manager <= 1.11.4 carries this weakness at tcmp_do_action, and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Uncontrolled resource consumption means a request can make the server do an amount of work it never bounds, because the size or repetition of the job is taken from the request rather than capped by the code.

A single caller can hold PHP workers, database connections or disk open long enough to slow the site for everyone, without needing any account or any other flaw. For Tracking Code Manager the fix is 1.11.5: builds <= 1.11.4 are affected, anything from 1.11.5 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.11.5, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Tracking Code Manager: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Tracking Code Manager 1.11.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/99418bd5-041a-4210-9571-fee6842fb692

Related records

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