CVE-2023-4140

WP Ultimate CSV Importer <= 7.9.8 - Arbitrary Usermeta Update to Authenticated (Author+) Privilege Escalation

2023-08-03 00:00
István Márton

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 7.9.9
Affected Plugin
WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import
Affected Version
<= 7.9.8
CVSS
6.6Medium
Weakness type
CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
CVE
CVE-2023-4140
View all WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-4140 is a medium-severity Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in the WP Ultimate CSV Importer WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 7.9.8. It carries a CVSS score of 6.6 (reachable over the network; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Author level or above. The issue is fixed in version 7.9.9; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2023, reported by István Márton.

Vulnerability Overview

The WP Ultimate CSV Importer plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in versions up to, and including, 7.9.8 due to insufficient restriction on the 'get_header_values' function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with minimal permissions such as an author, if the administrator previously grants access in the plugin settings, to modify their user role by supplying the 'wp_capabilities->cus1' parameter.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management

WP Ultimate CSV Importer <= 7.9.8 carries this weakness at get_header_values, and reaching it takes an account at Author level or above. Improper privilege management means the code lets an account end up with capabilities its role should not have.

It converts a low-privileged account into an administrative one, which makes every other restriction on the site irrelevant. For WP Ultimate CSV Importer the fix is 7.9.9: builds <= 7.9.8 are affected, anything from 7.9.9 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 7.9.9, 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: WP Ultimate CSV Importer 7.9.9 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-4140https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/5fdba41f-daa5-44e8-bc47-aa8b7bd31054https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-4140

Related records

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