CVE-2023-28664

MDTF – Meta Data and Taxonomies Filter <= 1.3.0.1 - Relected Cross-Site Scripting via 'tax_name'

2023-03-20 00:00
Joshua Martinelle

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.3.1
Affected Plugin
MDTF – Meta Data and Taxonomies Filter
Affected Version
<= 1.3.0.1
CVSS
6.1Medium
Weakness type
CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE
CVE-2023-28664
View all MDTF – Meta Data and Taxonomies Filter vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-28664 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the MDTF WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.3.0.1. It carries a CVSS score of 6.1 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.3.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2023, reported by Joshua Martinelle.

Vulnerability Overview

The MDTF – Meta Data and Taxonomies Filter plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via the ‘tax_name’ parameter of the mdf_get_tax_options_in_widget AJAX action in versions up to, and including, 1.3.0.1 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that execute if they can successfully trick a user 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.

CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

MDTF <= 1.3.0.1 carries this weakness at tax_name, and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Cross-site scripting happens when input from a request is written into a page without being escaped for the context it lands in, so the browser parses attacker-supplied text as markup or script.

Injected script runs with the privileges of whoever views the affected page, which is how these flaws turn into administrator session theft, silent account creation or persistent backdoors in page content. For MDTF the fix is 1.3.1: builds <= 1.3.0.1 are affected, anything from 1.3.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.3.1, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to MDTF: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: MDTF 1.3.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-28664https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/6edb6604-9da8-421e-933b-bac02b179bd0https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-28664

Related records

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