CVE-2023-4269

User Activity Log <= 1.6.5 - Unauthenticated Data Export to Sensitive Information Disclosure

2023-08-08 00:00
Daniel Ruf

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.6.6
Affected Plugin
User Activity Log
Affected Version
<= 1.6.5
CVSS
7.5High
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE-2023-4269
View all User Activity Log vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-4269 is a high-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the User Activity Log WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.6.5. It carries a CVSS score of 7.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.6.6; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2023, reported by Daniel Ruf.

Vulnerability Overview

The User Activity Log plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in versions up to, and including, 1.6.4 via the ual_export_log() function that is missing a capability check. This can allow unauthenticated attackers to extract sensitive data including user roles, usernames, and IP Addresses. This issue was partially patched in 1.6.4, which made it only exploitable by authenticated users, and a full patch was released in 1.6.6.

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 confidentiality.

CWE-862: Missing Authorization

User Activity Log <= 1.6.5 carries this weakness at ual_export_log(), and reaching it takes no account at all. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.

Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For User Activity Log the fix is 1.6.6: builds <= 1.6.5 are affected, anything from 1.6.6 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.6.6, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

This one needs no account at all, which puts it outside what login hardening can reach; WordSec's login security narrows the account-level paths around it, and the firewall is what inspects the request itself. None of that substitutes for the fix: User Activity Log 1.6.6 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-4269https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/bb7e9ea4-c450-491f-b924-47ed4abec64ahttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-4269

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C