CVE-2019-15330

WebP Express < 0.14.11 - Arbitrary File Read

2018-12-11 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 0.14.11
Affected Plugin: WebP Express
Affected Version: < 0.14.11
CVSS: 7.5High
Weakness type: CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE: CVE-2019-15330

At a glance

CVE-2019-15330 is a high-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the WebP Express WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 0.14.11. 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 0.14.11; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed December 2018.

Vulnerability Overview

The webp-express plugin before 0.14.11 for WordPress has insufficient protection against arbitrary file reading.

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-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

Reaching this weakness in WebP Express < 0.14.11 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Path traversal happens when user-controlled text is used to build a filesystem path without being constrained to an intended directory, so sequences like ../ walk the resolved path somewhere else.

Depending on the operation, it means reading files outside the intended folder — wp-config.php being the usual target — or writing to and deleting paths the web server can touch. For WebP Express the fix is 0.14.11: builds < 0.14.11 are affected, anything from 0.14.11 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 0.14.11, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to WebP Express: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: WebP Express 0.14.11 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-15330 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/3f4893b9-e032-45d6-a542-0ead70c61e2f https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-15330

Related records

Other vulnerabilities in WebP Express

CVSS Vector

7.5

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityNone
AvailabilityNone

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