CVE-2018-20853

MailPoet Newsletters <= 2.8.1 - Spam Injection

2018-03-14 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 2.8.2
Affected Plugin: MailPoet Newsletters (Previous)
Affected Version: <= 2.8.1
CVSS: 5.3Medium
Weakness type: CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE: CVE-2018-20853

View all MailPoet Newsletters (Previous) vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2018-20853 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the MailPoet Newsletters (Previous) WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.8.1. 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 2.8.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2018.

Vulnerability Overview

An issue was discovered in the MailPoet Newsletters (aka wysija-newsletters) plugin before 2.8.2 for WordPress. The plugin is vulnerable to SPAM attacks.

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-862: Missing Authorization

Reaching this weakness in MailPoet Newsletters (Previous) <= 2.8.1 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.

Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For MailPoet Newsletters (Previous) the fix is 2.8.2: builds <= 2.8.1 are affected, anything from 2.8.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.8.2, 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: MailPoet Newsletters (Previous) 2.8.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-20853 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/464a41f6-5569-4306-be99-566e2354c73b https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20853

Related records

Other vulnerabilities in MailPoet Newsletters (Previous)

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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