CVE-2020-25213

File Manager <= 6.8 - Arbitrary File Upload/Remote Code Execution

2020-09-01 00:00
Anonymous

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 6.9
Affected Plugin
File Manager
Affected Version
<= 6.8
CVSS
9.8Critical
Weakness type
CWE-434 · Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
CVE
CVE-2020-25213
View all File Manager vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2020-25213 is a critical-severity Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type vulnerability in the File Manager WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 6.8. 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 6.9; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2020.

Vulnerability Overview

The File Manager (wp-file-manager) plugin before 6.9 for WordPress allows remote attackers to upload and execute arbitrary PHP code because it renames an unsafe example elFinder connector file to have the .php extension. This, for example, allows attackers to run the elFinder upload (or mkfile and put) command to write PHP code into the wp-content/plugins/wp-file-manager/lib/files/ directory. This was exploited in the wild in August and September 2020.

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-434: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type

Reaching this weakness in File Manager <= 6.8 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. An unrestricted file upload lets a caller store a file whose type or destination the application does not properly constrain.

If an uploaded file lands anywhere the server will execute, the flaw becomes remote code execution and the site should be treated as fully compromised. For File Manager the fix is 6.9: builds <= 6.8 are affected, anything from 6.9 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 6.9, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to File Manager: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. None of that substitutes for the fix: File Manager 6.9 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-25213https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/dab7e451-f2ea-4f41-8e38-a2a983ccb18bhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-25213

Related records

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