CVE-2021-4374

WordPress Automatic Plugin <= 3.53.2 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary Options Update

2021-09-06 00:00
Jerome Bruandet

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.53.3
Affected Plugin
WordPress Automatic Plugin
Affected Version
< 3.53.3
CVSS
9.1Critical
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE-2021-4374
View all WordPress Automatic Plugin vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2021-4374 is a critical-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the WordPress Automatic Plugin WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 3.53.3. It carries a CVSS score of 9.1 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 3.53.3; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2021, reported by Jerome Bruandet.

Vulnerability Overview

The WordPress Automatic Plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary options updates in versions up to, and including, 3.53.2. This is due to missing authorization and option validation in the process_form.php file. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to arbitrarily update the settings of a vulnerable site and ultimately compromise the entire site.

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 integrity, availability.

CWE-862: Missing Authorization

Reaching this weakness in WordPress Automatic Plugin < 3.53.3 takes no account at all. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.

Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For WordPress Automatic Plugin the fix is 3.53.3: builds < 3.53.3 are affected, anything from 3.53.3 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.53.3, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

This one needs no account at all, which puts it outside what login hardening can reach; WordSec's login security narrows the account-level paths around it, and the firewall is what inspects the request itself. None of that substitutes for the fix: WordPress Automatic Plugin 3.53.3 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-4374https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/d0567dc8-7a4c-42f4-bf45-f31a8efaa354https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-4374

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C