CVE-2021-34646

Booster for WooCommerce <= 5.4.3 - Authentication Bypass

2021-08-24 15:09
Chloe Chamberland

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 5.4.4
Affected Version
<= 5.4.3
CVSS
9.8Critical
Weakness type
CWE-288 · Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel
CVE
CVE-2021-34646
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At a glance

CVE-2021-34646 is a critical-severity Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel vulnerability in the Booster for WooCommerce WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 5.4.3. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 5.4.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2021, reported by Chloe Chamberland.

Vulnerability Overview

Versions up to, and including, 5.4.3, of the Booster for WooCommerce WordPress plugin are vulnerable to authentication bypass via the process_email_verification function due to a random token generation weakness in the reset_and_mail_activation_link function found in the ~/includes/class-wcj-emails-verification.php file. This allows attackers to impersonate users and trigger an email address verification for arbitrary accounts, including administrative accounts, and automatically be logged in as that user, including any site administrators. This requires the Email Verification module to be active in the plugin and the Login User After Successful Verification setting to be enabled, which it is by default.

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, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-288: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel

Reaching this weakness in Booster for WooCommerce <= 5.4.3 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Authentication bypass through an alternate path means the application has a second route to a protected action that skips the checks the primary route performs.

The protection on the main path becomes irrelevant, because the attacker simply uses the route that never asks. For Booster for WooCommerce the fix is 5.4.4: builds <= 5.4.3 are affected, anything from 5.4.4 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 5.4.4, 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: Booster for WooCommerce 5.4.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

Related records

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