CVE-2022-1009

Smush – Lazy Load Images, Optimize & Compress Images <= 3.9.8 - Cross-Site Scripting

2022-05-03 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 3.9.9
Affected Plugin: Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN
Affected Version: <= 3.9.8
CVSS: 4.4Medium
Weakness type: CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE: CVE-2022-1009

View all Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2022-1009 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the Smush WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.9.8. It carries a CVSS score of 4.4 (reachable over the network). The issue is fixed in version 3.9.9; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2022, reported by Taurus Omar.

Vulnerability Overview

The Smush – Lazy Load Images, Optimize & Compress Images plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via the 'name' and 'description' parameters in versions up to, and including, 3.9.8 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. This requires an attacker to trick an administrator into uploading a malicious configuration file in order to be successful.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, and no interaction from a victim user.

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

Smush <= 3.9.8 carries this weakness at 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 Smush the fix is 3.9.9: builds <= 3.9.8 are affected, anything from 3.9.9 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.9.9, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Smush: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Smush 3.9.9 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-1009 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/64b22728-cb07-48be-94b7-1089156490cd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-1009

Related records

Same weakness class

9.8Smush – Lazy Load Images, Optimize & Compress Images <= 2.9.1 XSS

Other vulnerabilities in Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN

CVSS Vector

4.4

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

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityHigh
Privileges RequiredHigh
User InteractionNone
ScopeChanged
ConfidentialityLow
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityNone

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