WP HTML Mail <= 3.0.9 - Missing Authorization on Rest Route
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 3.1
- Affected Plugin
- Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail
- Affected Version
<= 3.0.9- CVSS
- 8.3High
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2022-0218
At a glance
CVE-2022-0218 is a high-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Email Template Designer WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.0.9. It carries a CVSS score of 8.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 3.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2022, reported by Chloe Chamberland.
Vulnerability Overview
The WP HTML Mail WordPress plugin is vulnerable to unauthorized access which allows unauthenticated attackers to retrieve and modify theme settings due to a missing capability check on the /themesettings REST-API endpoint found in the ~/includes/class-template-designer.php file, in versions up to and including 3.0.9. This makes it possible for attackers with no privileges to execute the endpoint and add malicious JavaScript to a vulnerable WordPress site.
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.
CWE-862: Missing Authorization
Reaching this weakness in Email Template Designer <= 3.0.9 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.
Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For Email Template Designer the fix is 3.1: builds <= 3.0.9 are affected, anything from 3.1 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 3.1, 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: Email Template Designer 3.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail
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