ZM Ajax Login & Register <= 1.0.9 - Local File Inclusion
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.1.0
- Affected Plugin
- ZM Ajax Login & Register
- Affected Version
< 1.1.0- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-98 · Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion')
- CVE
CVE-2015-4153
At a glance
CVE-2015-4153 is a critical-severity Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in the ZM Ajax Login & Register WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 1.1.0. 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 1.1.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed June 2015, reported by Panagiotis Vagenas.
Vulnerability Overview
Directory traversal vulnerability in the zM Ajax Login & Register plugin before 1.1.0 for WordPress allows remote attackers to include and execute arbitrary php files via a relative path in the template parameter in a load_template action to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php.
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-98: Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion')
Reaching this weakness in ZM Ajax Login & Register < 1.1.0 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. PHP file inclusion means a path used by include or require is built from request data, so the file that gets executed is under the caller's influence.
Including an attacker-influenced file executes its contents, which is why this class is routinely chained with an upload or log-poisoning step to reach code execution. For ZM Ajax Login & Register the fix is 1.1.0: builds < 1.1.0 are affected, anything from 1.1.0 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.1.0, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to ZM Ajax Login & Register: 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: ZM Ajax Login & Register 1.1.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Scanner
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in ZM Ajax Login & Register
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