CVE-2017-2136

WP Statistics <= 12.0.4 - Stored Cross-Site Scripting

2017-04-13 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 12.0.5
Affected Plugin: WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative
Affected Version: <= 12.0.4
CVSS: 6.1Medium
Weakness type: CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE: CVE-2017-2136

View all WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2017-2136 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the WP Statistics WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 12.0.4. 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 12.0.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed April 2017, reported by Gen Sato.

Vulnerability Overview

Cross-site scripting vulnerability in WP Statistics version 12.0.4 and earlier allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via specially crafted HTTP Referer headers.

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')

Reaching this weakness in WP Statistics <= 12.0.4 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 WP Statistics the fix is 12.0.5: builds <= 12.0.4 are affected, anything from 12.0.5 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 12.0.5, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to WP Statistics: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: WP Statistics 12.0.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-2136 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/bcd981fb-ef75-4ed3-a18f-4ad9eaa148f4 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-2136

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative

CVSS Vector

6.1

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

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionRequired
ScopeChanged
ConfidentialityLow
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityNone

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