CVE-2019-11886

Visual CSS Style Editor <= 7.2.0 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary Options Update

2019-04-11 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 7.2.1
Affected Plugin: Visual CSS Style Editor
Affected Version: < 7.2.1
CVSS: 9.8Critical
Weakness type: CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE: CVE-2019-11886

View all Visual CSS Style Editor vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2019-11886 is a critical-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Visual CSS Style Editor WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 7.2.1. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 7.2.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed April 2019.

Vulnerability Overview

The WaspThemes Visual CSS Style Editor (aka yellow-pencil-visual-theme-customizer) plugin before 7.2.1 for WordPress allows yp_option_update by unauthenticated users and lacks CSRF protection, as demonstrated by use of yp_remote_get to obtain admin access.

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. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-862: Missing Authorization

Reaching this weakness in Visual CSS Style Editor < 7.2.1 takes no account at all. 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 Visual CSS Style Editor the fix is 7.2.1: builds < 7.2.1 are affected, anything from 7.2.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 7.2.1, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

This one needs no account at all, which puts it outside what login hardening can reach; WordSec's login security narrows the account-level paths around it, and the firewall is what inspects the request itself. None of that substitutes for the fix: Visual CSS Style Editor 7.2.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-11886 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/b4b3b4a4-9a56-49b8-b3d3-7e50954b4487 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-11886

Related records

Other vulnerabilities in Visual CSS Style Editor

CVSS Vector

9.8

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

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

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