WordPress Site Editor Plugin Path Traversal Vulnerability [CVE-2018-7422]

CVE number – CVE-2018-7422

A vulnerability in the Site Editor plugin for WordPress could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to access sensitive information on a targeted system.

The vulnerability is due to insufficient sanitization of user-supplied input submitted to the ajax_path parameter that is processed by the :-

editor/extensions/pagebuilder/includes/ajax_shortcode_pattern.php

code of the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a request that submits malicious input to the targeted system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access arbitrary files on the system, which could be used to conduct further attacks.

Proof-of-concept (PoC) code that demonstrates an exploit of this vulnerability is publicly available.

WordPress.org has not confirmed the vulnerability and software updates are not available.

• To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must send a request that submits malicious input to the targeted system, making exploitation more difficult in environments that restrict network access from untrusted sources.

  As of March 27, 2018, the Site Editor plugin for WordPress has been closed and is no longer available for download.

• Administrators are advised to contact the vendor regarding future updates and releases.

  Administrators are advised to allow only trusted users to have network access.

  Administrators are advised to run both firewall and antivirus applications to minimize the potential of inbound and outbound threats.

  Administrators may consider using IP-based access control lists (ACLs) to allow only trusted systems to access the affected systems.

  Administrators can help protect affected systems from external attacks by using a solid firewall strategy.

  Administrators can apply Snort SID 47424 to help prevent attacks that attempt to exploit this vulnerability.

  Administrators are advised to monitor affected systems.

• At the time this alert was first published, WordPress.org had not released a security advisory.

• At the time this alert was first published, WordPress.org had not released software updates.

Duncan

Duncan is a technology professional with over 20 years experience of working in various IT roles. He has a interest in cyber security, and has a wide range of other skills in radio, electronics and telecommunications.