CVE-2021-24197

wpDataTables (Premium) <= 3.4.1 - Improper Access Control leading to Table Permission Takeover

2021-03-16 00:00
Veno Eivazian

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.4.2
Affected Plugin
wpDataTables (Premium)
Affected Version
< 3.4.2
CVSS
8.1High
Weakness type
CWE-284 · Improper Access Control
CVE
CVE-2021-24197
View all wpDataTables (Premium) vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2021-24197 is a high-severity Improper Access Control vulnerability in the wpDataTables (Premium) WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 3.4.2. It carries a CVSS score of 8.1 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity impact). The issue is fixed in version 3.4.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2021, reported by Veno Eivazian.

Vulnerability Overview

The wpDataTables – Tables & Table Charts premium WordPress plugin before 3.4.2 has Improper Access Control. A low privilege authenticated user that visits the page where the table is published can tamper the parameters to access the data of another user that are present in the same table by taking over the user permissions on the table through formdata[wdt_ID] parameter. By exploiting this issue an attacker is able to access and manage the data of all users in the same table. Please note that this only affects the premium version of the plugin which shares the same slug as the free version.

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 interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity.

CWE-284: Improper Access Control

Reaching this weakness in wpDataTables (Premium) < 3.4.2 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper access control means the code decides what a caller may do using something other than their actual permissions, so the decision can be wrong without any check appearing to be missing.

Whoever can shape the request decides the answer, so the protected action runs for callers the code never meant to allow. For wpDataTables (Premium) the fix is 3.4.2: builds < 3.4.2 are affected, anything from 3.4.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.4.2, 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: wpDataTables (Premium) 3.4.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-24197https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/103b7db9-1571-4fce-852f-68d5df7ee4bahttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-24197

Related records

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