CVE-2023-3869

wpDiscuz <= 7.6.3 - Insecure Direct Object Reference to Comment Rating Increase/Decrease

2023-09-12 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 7.6.4
Affected Plugin: Comments – wpDiscuz
Affected Version: <= 7.6.3
CVSS: 5.3Medium
Weakness type: CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
CVE: CVE-2023-3869

View all Comments – wpDiscuz vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-3869 is a medium-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the Comments WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 7.6.3. It carries a CVSS score of 5.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 7.6.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2023, reported by R3N0.

Vulnerability Overview

The wpDiscuz plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing authorization check on the voteOnComment function in versions up to, and including, 7.6.3. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to increase or decrease the rating of a comment.

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.

CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key

Reaching this weakness in Comments <= 7.6.3 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Authorization bypass through a user-controlled key, often called insecure direct object reference, means the application looks up a record by an identifier from the request without checking that the caller owns it.

Changing a number in the request is enough to read or modify other users' records, which on commerce and membership sites means customer data. For Comments the fix is 7.6.4: builds <= 7.6.3 are affected, anything from 7.6.4 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 7.6.4, 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: Comments 7.6.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-3869 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/b30ac1b0-eae2-4194-bf8e-ae73b4236965 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-3869

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in Comments – wpDiscuz

CVSS Vector

5.3

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

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityNone
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityNone

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