CVE-2024-1538

File Manager <= 7.2.4 - Cross-Site Request Forgery to Local JS File Inclusion

2024-03-20 00:00
0xBishop

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 7.2.5
Affected Plugin
File Manager
Affected Version
<= 7.2.4
CVSS
8.8High
Weakness type
CWE-352 · Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
CVE
CVE-2024-1538
View all File Manager vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2024-1538 is a high-severity Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the File Manager WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 7.2.4. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 7.2.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2024, reported by 0xBishop.

Vulnerability Overview

The File Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in all versions up to, and including, 7.2.4. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the wp_file_manager page that includes files through the 'lang' parameter. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to include local JavaScript files that can be leveraged to achieve RCE via a forged request granted they can trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link. This issue was partially patched in version 7.2.4, and fully patched in 7.2.5.

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. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

File Manager <= 7.2.4 carries this weakness at lang, and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Cross-site request forgery abuses the fact that browsers attach a victim's cookies to any request, so a state-changing action that only checks who you are, not whether you meant to act, can be triggered from another site.

An attacker who gets a logged-in user to load a crafted page can perform that action as them, with the impact scaling to whatever the victim's role is allowed to do. For File Manager the fix is 7.2.5: builds <= 7.2.4 are affected, anything from 7.2.5 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 7.2.5, 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. None of that substitutes for the fix: File Manager 7.2.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-1538https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/57cc15a6-2cf5-481f-bb81-ada48aa74009https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-1538

Related records

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