CVE-2023-1473 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability in MetaSlider WordPress Plugin 3.29.

WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems used worldwide, powering millions of websites. This makes it an attractive target for hackers, who are always on the lookout for vulnerabilities in plugins and themes to exploit. One such vulnerability, a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability, has been discovered in the Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider WordPress plugin version 3.29.. The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2023-1473, could potentially allow attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of a high privilege user, such as an administrator.

Exploit Details

The vulnerability exists due to the MetaSlider plugin's failure to properly sanitize and escape the 'orderby' parameter before outputting it back in the page. As a result, an attacker could potentially craft a malicious URL containing a payload that would be executed when a high privilege user clicks on it or visits the crafted URL.

Here's a code snippet demonstrating the issue

function metaslider_get_responsive_slides($slider_id, $orderby = 'menu_order') {
    // ...
    $args = array(
        // ...
        'orderby'        => $orderby,
        // ...
    );

    // ...
}

As you can see, the 'orderby' parameter is directly passed to the 'args' array without any sanitization or escaping, which can result in a Reflected XSS vulnerability.

Proof of Concept (PoC)

To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker could create a malicious URL that includes a payload, such as:

https://targetsite.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=metaslider-responsive&type=responsive&slider_id=1&orderby=<script>alert(document.cookie)</script>;

If a high privilege user clicks on this URL, the payload will execute in their browser, potentially allowing an attacker to access sensitive information or perform unauthorized actions on the target's behalf.

Original References

- MetaSlider WordPress Plugin Vulnerability CVE-2023-1473

Suggested Mitigation

To fix this vulnerability, the MetaSlider plugin should be updated to properly sanitize and escape the 'orderby' parameter before outputting it back in the page. This can be done using WordPress' built-in sanitization functions, such as sanitize_text_field(), as shown in the following code snippet:

function metaslider_get_responsive_slides($slider_id, $orderby = 'menu_order') {
    // Sanitize the 'orderby' parameter
    $orderby = sanitize_text_field($orderby);

    // ...
    $args = array(
        // ...
        'orderby'        => $orderby,
        // ...
    );

    // ...
}

In addition to the above code changes, users of the MetaSlider plugin should ensure that they are running the latest version of the plugin to protect against any known vulnerabilities.

Conclusion

Vulnerabilities in WordPress plugins can have serious implications for the security of websites. As such, it is crucial for users to ensure they are using the latest versions of all their plugins and that their plugins have been reviewed for security issues. In the case of CVE-2023-1473, proper sanitization and escaping of the 'orderby' parameter should be implemented by the MetaSlider plugin developer to prevent potential cross-site scripting attacks against high privilege users.

Timeline

Published on: 04/17/2023 13:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 04/26/2023 20:25:00 UTC