CVE-2015-9477

Vernissage <= 1.2.9 - Arbitrary Options Update

2015-06-26 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 1.3
Affected Theme: Vernissage - Photography WordPress Theme
Affected Version: <= 1.2.9
CVSS: 8.8High
Weakness type: CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
CVE: CVE-2015-9477

View all Vernissage - Photography WordPress Theme vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2015-9477 is a high-severity Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in the Vernissage - Photography WordPress Theme WordPress theme, affecting versions <= 1.2.9. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). The issue is fixed in version 1.3; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed June 2015.

Vulnerability Overview

The Vernissage theme for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary option updates due to a missing capability check on the of_ajax_post_action AJAX action in versions up to, and including, 2.1. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to edit arbitrary site options which can be used to create administrator accounts.

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

CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management

Reaching this weakness in Vernissage - Photography WordPress Theme <= 1.2.9 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper privilege management means the code lets an account end up with capabilities its role should not have.

It converts a low-privileged account into an administrative one, which makes every other restriction on the site irrelevant. For Vernissage - Photography WordPress Theme the fix is 1.3: builds <= 1.2.9 are affected, anything from 1.3 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.3, 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: Vernissage - Photography WordPress Theme 1.3 closes this, and updating the theme is the step that ends it.

Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-9477 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/56405a91-259c-4700-bbc1-ffe0d77f3974 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-9477

CVSS Vector

8.8

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

Base

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

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