WordPress does not have a way to validate nonces on the front end, so this vulnerability could be exploited by an attacker without requiring any login access on the site. The default installation of WordPress does not enforce nonce checks and the Simple File List plugin is not the only one that does not do so. This issue could be potentially exploited by attackers who insert a malicious script into a WordPress website's nonces. Nonces are a unique value assigned to each request, so they can be used to prevent against cross-site scripting attacks. A malicious user would have to find a way to inject a nonce into their script that would cause the WordPress website to produce output that would not be prevented by nonce checks. The easiest way to accomplish this is by placing the nonce in a place where it would be loaded by the website, such as the header or body of a request.

WordPress does not have a way to validate nonces on the backend

The only option to mitigate this issue is to enforce nonce checks on the backend. The easiest way to do so is by using the WordPress nonce-check plugin. This plugin forces all requests to be checked before they are processed, which prevents attackers from exploiting this vulnerability.

WordPress does not have a way to validate nonces on the front end

WordPress does not have a way to validate nonces on the front end. This means that any malicious user can use the default installation of WordPress without any login access to hijack an account, attack other users, or manipulate content on the site. The only defense against this is to change your website's password and install a plugin like Simple File List to enforce nonce checks.

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WordPress does not verify request headers

WordPress does not verify request headers before processing them, so this vulnerability could be exploited by an attacker without requiring any login access on the site. This issue could be potentially exploited by attackers who insert a malicious script into a WordPress website's requests. Request headers are an optional field in the HTTP protocol that allows for extra information to accompany a request. For example, they are often used to specify cookies, authentication credentials, or other important data that should be included with a request. A malicious user would have to find a way to inject a header into their script that would cause the WordPress website to produce output that would not be prevented by nonce checks. The easiest way to accomplish this is by placing the nonce in a place where it would be loaded by the website, such as the header or body of a request.

XXS Attack

There are a number of different ways that an attacker could exploit this vulnerability. One way is by using the XXS attack, which is an evasion technique that allows attackers to bypass nonce checks with a crafted header or body. An attacker would use the XXS attack to insert malicious scripts into requests in order to circumvent nonce checks and trigger an XSS attack.
Another way attackers could exploit this vulnerability is by injecting malicious code into the output of a request and bypassing nonce checks that way. This differs slightly from the previous example because it doesn't require any input from the victim. An attacker will use their script injection techniques to inject a malicious code into their request, which will cause WordPress to return output without checking for a nonce.

Timeline

Published on: 10/10/2022 21:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 10/13/2022 15:10:00 UTC

References