CVE-2023-4142

WP Ultimate CSV Importer <= 7.9.8 - Authenticated (Author+) Remote Code Execution

2023-08-03 00:00
István Márton

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 7.9.9
Affected Version
<= 7.9.8
CVSS
8.0High
Weakness type
CWE-94 · Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
CVE
CVE-2023-4142
View all WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-4142 is a high-severity Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability in the WP Ultimate CSV Importer WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 7.9.8. It carries a CVSS score of 8.0 (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 Remote Code Execution in versions up to, and including, 7.9.8 via the '->cus1' parameter. This allows authenticated attackers with author-level permissions or above, if the administrator previously grants access in the plugin settings, to execute code on the server. The author resolved this vulnerability by removing the ability for authors and editors to import files, please note that this means remote code execution is still possible for site administrators, use the plugin with caution.

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-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')

Reaching this weakness in WP Ultimate CSV Importer <= 7.9.8 takes an account at Author level or above. Code injection means input from a request reaches a language construct that evaluates code, so the attacker's text is executed rather than treated as data.

The injected code runs with the web server's privileges, giving the attacker the same access to the database and filesystem as WordPress itself. 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?

An attacker needs Author access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. 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.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Alerts

External References

Related records

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