WP Frontend Profile <= 1.2.1 - Cross-Site Request Forgery

2020-05-19 00:00
Julio Potier

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.2.2
Affected Plugin
WP Frontend Profile
Affected Version
<= 1.2.1
CVSS
8.8High
Weakness type
CWE-352 · Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
CVE
CVE pending
View all WP Frontend Profile vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a high-severity Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the WP Frontend Profile WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.2.1. 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 1.2.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2020, reported by Julio Potier.

Vulnerability Overview

The WP Frontend Profile plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in versions up to, and including, 1.2.1. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation in the wpfep_save_password() function found in the 'wp-frontend-profile/functions/save-fields.php' file. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to change the passwords of other users via a forged request granted they can trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.

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)

WP Frontend Profile <= 1.2.1 carries this weakness at wpfep_save_password(), 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 WP Frontend Profile the fix is 1.2.2: builds <= 1.2.1 are affected, anything from 1.2.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.2.2, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to WP Frontend Profile: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: WP Frontend Profile 1.2.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/ab520bcb-5739-4b99-ad93-73416ab39084

Related records

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