Manage WP Worker <= 4.9.2 - Authentication Bypass
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 4.9.3
- Affected Plugin
- ManageWP Worker
- Affected Version
<= 4.9.2- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-288 · Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel
- CVE
CVE pending
At a glance
This record tracks a critical-severity Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel vulnerability in the ManageWP Worker WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.9.2. 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 4.9.3; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed February 2020, reported by Matt Barry.
Vulnerability Overview
The Manage WP Worker plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in versions up to, and including 4.9.2, due to the use of global keys that every installation of Manage WP worker uses for signature verification. This makes it possible to specially craft a request that can be used to auto-login as any user on any WordPress site running the plugin.
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 ManageWP Worker <= 4.9.2 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 ManageWP Worker the fix is 4.9.3: builds <= 4.9.2 are affected, anything from 4.9.3 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 4.9.3, 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: ManageWP Worker 4.9.3 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C