CVE-2024-38770

Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule <= 1.22.20 - Authentication Bypass to Account Takeover

2024-07-13 00:00
Dave Jong

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.22.21
Affected Plugin
Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule
Affected Version
<= 1.22.20
CVSS
9.8Critical
Weakness type
CWE-288 · Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel
CVE
CVE-2024-38770
View all Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2024-38770 is a critical-severity Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel vulnerability in the Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.22.20. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.22.21; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed July 2024, reported by Dave Jong.

Vulnerability Overview

The Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in all versions up to, and including, 1.22.20. This is due to wptc_decode_auth_token() function using a loose comparison. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to bypass authentication and access user accounts, including those that may have administrative access. This vulnerability does require a site to have a connection to wptimecapsule.com in order to be exploited.

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. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-288: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel

Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule <= 1.22.20 carries this weakness at wptc_decode_auth_token(), and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Authentication bypass through an alternate path means the application has a second route to a protected action that skips the checks the primary route performs.

The protection on the main path becomes irrelevant, because the attacker simply uses the route that never asks. For Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule the fix is 1.22.21: builds <= 1.22.20 are affected, anything from 1.22.21 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.22.21, 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: Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule 1.22.21 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-38770https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/bb00eae9-645d-4827-b691-2408fd24aa75https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38770

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C