CVE-2023-3636

WP Project Manager <= 2.6.4 - Arbitrary Usermeta Update to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation

2023-07-24 00:00
Chloe Chamberland

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 2.6.5
Affected Plugin
Project Manager – AI Powered Project Management, Task Management, Kanban Board & Time Tracker
Affected Version
<= 2.6.4
CVSS
8.8High
Weakness type
CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
CVE
CVE-2023-3636
View all Project Manager – AI Powered Project Management, Task Management, Kanban Board & Time Tracker vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-3636 is a high-severity Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in the Project Manager WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.6.4. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. The issue is fixed in version 2.6.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2023, reported by Chloe Chamberland.

Vulnerability Overview

The WP Project Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in versions up to, and including, 2.6.4 due to insufficient restriction on the 'save_users_map_name' function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with minimal permissions such as a subscriber, to modify their user role by supplying the 'usernames' parameter.

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-269: Improper Privilege Management

Project Manager <= 2.6.4 carries this weakness at save_users_map_name, and reaching it takes an account at Subscriber level or above. Improper privilege management means the code lets an account end up with capabilities its role should not have.

It converts a low-privileged account into an administrative one, which makes every other restriction on the site irrelevant. For Project Manager the fix is 2.6.5: builds <= 2.6.4 are affected, anything from 2.6.5 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.6.5, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

Because it turns on account access, WordSec's login security is the relevant layer: role-based two-factor, captcha and brute-force limits raise the cost of getting the account this needs. None of that substitutes for the fix: Project Manager 2.6.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-3636https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/6a5e4708-db3e-483c-852f-1a487825cf92https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-3636

Related records

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