CVE-2023-5799

WP Hotel Booking <= 2.0.8 - Insufficient Authorization to Unauthorized Post Deletion

2023-10-26 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 2.0.9
Affected Plugin: WP Hotel Booking
Affected Version: <= 2.0.8
CVSS: 4.3Medium
Weakness type: CWE-863 · Incorrect Authorization
CVE: CVE-2023-5799

View all WP Hotel Booking vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-5799 is a medium-severity Incorrect Authorization vulnerability in the WP Hotel Booking WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.0.8. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The issue is fixed in version 2.0.9; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2023, reported by Erwan LR.

Vulnerability Overview

The WP Hotel Booking plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to insufficient authorization checks on the tp_extra_package_remove() function hooked via AJAX in all versions up to, and including, 2.0.7. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to delete arbitrary posts. While the patch for CVE-2023-5651 ensured subscriber-level users couldn't delete arbitrary posts, the checks were not sufficient in preventing higher authenticated users such as contributors from deleting arbitrary posts.

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 interaction from a victim user.

CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization

WP Hotel Booking <= 2.0.8 carries this weakness at tp_extra_package_remove(), and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Incorrect authorization means a permission check exists but evaluates the wrong thing, so it passes for callers it was meant to stop.

The action runs for users the code intended to exclude, with the same effect as having no check at all. For WP Hotel Booking the fix is 2.0.9: builds <= 2.0.8 are affected, anything from 2.0.9 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.0.9, 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: WP Hotel Booking 2.0.9 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-5799 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/370ccbad-4001-4af5-8d32-fd6b04a8fc41 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-5799

Related records

Other vulnerabilities in WP Hotel Booking

CVSS Vector

4.3

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityNone
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityNone

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