wpCentral <= 1.5.0 - Improper Access Control to Privilege Escalation
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.5.1
- Affected Plugin
- wpCentral
- Affected Version
<= 1.5.0- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
- CVE
CVE-2020-9043
At a glance
CVE-2020-9043 is a critical-severity Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in the wpCentral WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.5.0. 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 1.5.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed February 2020, reported by Chloe Chamberland.
Vulnerability Overview
The wpCentral plugin before 1.5.1 for WordPress allows disclosure of the connection key which makes it possible for an unauthenticated user to log-in to a vulnerable site as an administrator.
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-269: Improper Privilege Management
Reaching this weakness in wpCentral <= 1.5.0 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. 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 wpCentral the fix is 1.5.1: builds <= 1.5.0 are affected, anything from 1.5.1 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.5.1, 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: wpCentral 1.5.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in wpCentral
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