CVE-2022-2356

Frontend File Manager & Sharing – User Private Files <= 1.1.2 - Subscriber+ Arbitrary File Upload

2022-07-11 00:00
Raad Haddad

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.1.3
Affected Version
<= 1.1.2
CVSS
8.8High
Weakness type
CWE-434 · Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
CVE
CVE-2022-2356
View all User Private Files – WordPress File Sharing Plugin vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2022-2356 is a high-severity Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type vulnerability in the User Private Files WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.1.2. 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 1.1.3; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2022, reported by Raad Haddad.

Vulnerability Overview

The Frontend File Manager & Sharing – User Private Files plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file uploads due to missing file type validation in the upload_doc_callback function in versions up to, and including, 1.1.2. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber level permissions and above, to upload arbitrary files on the affected sites server which may make remote code execution possible under certain conditions. The plugin adds a Rewrite Rule to the site's .htaccess file in order to ensure that direct file access is not possible. However, deactivation of the plugin or resetting of the .htaccess file would lead to potential for Remote Code Execution. Servers other than Apache may ignore .htaccess files and be vulnerable to RCE.

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-434: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type

Reaching this weakness in User Private Files <= 1.1.2 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. An unrestricted file upload lets a caller store a file whose type or destination the application does not properly constrain.

If an uploaded file lands anywhere the server will execute, the flaw becomes remote code execution and the site should be treated as fully compromised. For User Private Files the fix is 1.1.3: builds <= 1.1.2 are affected, anything from 1.1.3 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.1.3, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to User Private Files: 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: User Private Files 1.1.3 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Alerts

External References

Related records

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