Multiple sparklewpthemes Themes (Various versions) - Cross-Site Request Forgery to Arbitrary Plugin Activation
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Theme
- Kingcabs
- Affected Version
<= 1.1.5- CVSS
- 5.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
- CVE
CVE-2023-32959
At a glance
CVE-2023-32959 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Kingcabs WordPress theme, affecting versions <= 1.1.5. It carries a CVSS score of 5.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed May 2023, reported by Dave Jong.
Vulnerability Overview
Several themes for WordPress are vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery due to missing nonce validation on the activate_plugin() function called via an AJAX action in various versions of the themes. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to activate arbitrary plugins via a forged request, if they can trick an authenticated user into performing an action such as clicking on a link.
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
Kingcabs <= 1.1.5 carries this weakness at activate_plugin(), and reaching it 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. No fixed build of this theme is recorded for Kingcabs yet, so installs running <= 1.1.5 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.
Remediation
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
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. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in Kingcabs
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