CVE-2022-45363

Betheme <= 26.6.2 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting

2022-11-21 00:00
Dave Jong

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 26.6.3
Affected Theme
Betheme
Affected Version
<= 26.6.2
CVSS
6.4Medium
Weakness type
CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE
CVE-2022-45363
View all Betheme vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2022-45363 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the Betheme WordPress theme, affecting versions <= 26.6.2. It carries a CVSS score of 6.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. The issue is fixed in version 26.6.3; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2022, reported by Dave Jong.

Vulnerability Overview

The Betheme theme for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass that leads to stored Cross-Site Scripting in versions up to, and including, 26.6.2. This is due to a missing capability check on the mfnvb_init_vb() function that initializes the visual editor for the plugin and discloses the plugin's page builder nonces and functionality to an attacker. This makes it possible for authenticated attacks with minimal permissions, such as a subscriber, to trigger the Betheme page editor for any post or page and view the information along with make any changes to the post/page accessed through the editor. This CVE is specific to being able to inject malicious JavaScript into the pages and posts that can be edited by the plugin as a result of the initial missing authorization vulnerability. This is an extension of CVE-2022-45356.

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.

CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

Betheme <= 26.6.2 carries this weakness at mfnvb_init_vb(), and reaching it takes an account at Subscriber level or above. Cross-site scripting happens when input from a request is written into a page without being escaped for the context it lands in, so the browser parses attacker-supplied text as markup or script.

Injected script runs with the privileges of whoever views the affected page, which is how these flaws turn into administrator session theft, silent account creation or persistent backdoors in page content. For Betheme the fix is 26.6.3: builds <= 26.6.2 are affected, anything from 26.6.3 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 26.6.3, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Subscriber access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Betheme 26.6.3 closes this, and updating the theme is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-45363https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/7e1d4080-cd8a-455a-85f4-87f195ebe4a2https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-45363

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C